Differences between [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT and [<sup>18</sup>F]FDG Uptake in PET/CT Imaging in CC Depend on Vaginal Bacteriology

oleh: Ewa Burchardt, Zaneta Warenczak-Florczak, Paulina Cegła, Adam Piotrowski, Zefiryn Cybulski, Wojciech Burchardt, Andrzej Roszak, Witold Cholewiński

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-12-01

Deskripsi

This study aims to investigate if vaginal bacteriology obtained prior to treatment influences the 3′-deoxy-3 18F-fluorothymidine (FLT) [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT and 2-deoxy-2-[<sup>18</sup>F]fluoro-<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">d</span>-glucose (2-[<sup>18</sup>F]FDG) [<sup>18</sup>F]FDG parameters in positron emission tomography (PET/CT) in cervical cancer (CC) patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on 39 women with locally advanced histologically confirmed cervical cancer who underwent dual tracer PET/CT examinations. The [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT and [<sup>18</sup>F]FDG PET parameters in the primary tumor, including SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV, heterogeneity, before radiotherapy (RT) were analyzed, depending on the bacteriology. The <i>p</i>-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: In the vaginal and/or cervical smears, there were 27 (79.4%) positive results. In seven (20.6%) cases, no opportunistic pathogen growth was observed (No Bacteria Group). In positive bacteriology, eleven (32%) Gram-negative bacilli (Bacteria group 2) and fifteen (44%) Gram-positive bacteria (Bacteria group 1) were detected. Five patients with unknown results were excluded from the analysis. Data analysis shows a statistically significant difference between the SUV<sub>max</sub>, and SUV<sub>min</sub> values for three independent groups for the [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT. Conclusions: The lowest values of SUV<sub>max</sub> and SUV<sub>min</sub> for [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT are registered in Gram-negative bacteria, higher are in Gram-positive, and the absence of bacteria causes the highest [<sup>18</sup>F]FLT values.