The following is a summary of “Higher SUVmax on FDG-PET is associated with shorter survival in adrenocortical carcinoma,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Wrenn, et al.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive cancer that affects the adrenal gland. Positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) was used to evaluate how much glucose was being used by the tumor. Researchers believed that a higher SUV_max value would indicate a worse prognosis.

For a study, they looked back at the medical records of 26 patients diagnosed with ACC and who had undergone an FDG-PET scan with documented SUV_max values. Patients were divided into two groups: those with high SUV_max values (≥8.4) and those with low SUV_max values (<8.4). They then compared the two groups using univariate analysis and survival analysis.

The results showed that the high SUV_max group had a significantly lower median survival time (median 479 days or 15.7 months) compared to the low SUV_max group (median 1,490 days or 48.6 months, P = .01). The log-rank curve confirmed the difference in survival (P = .007).

In conclusion, they found that a higher SUV_max value was associated with worse survival in patients with ACC, which may indicate a more aggressive form of cancer. Using FDG-PET may be useful in determining prognosis and treatment options for patients with ACC. Investigators recommend future studies further to evaluate the use of FDG-PET/CT in ACC.

Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00543-8/fulltext