Objective To evaluate the imaging characteristics of 18 F-FDG PET/CT in patients with Castleman's disease (CD).Methods Twelve patients (male 7,female 5,mean age:(51.2±19.3)years) with pathologically confirmed CD and 18F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively enrolled.A lesion with SUVmax greater than that of normal liver tissue was defined as positive.Lesion size (short diameter) was measured.Correlation between size and SUVmax was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.SUVmax of different clinical and pathological types was compared using Mann-Whitney rank sum test.Results Among 12patients,7 patients had localized CD (LCD) involving a single group of lymph nodes and 5 patients had multicentric CD (MCD) involving more than one group of lymph nodes with some having lung and spleen infiltration.A total of 129 positive lesions were found (7 of LCD,122 of MCD) and the average SUVmax was 4.20±1.84 (range:2.50 to 10.70).There was no significant correlation between SUVmax and lesion size (r =0.189,P＞0.05).There was no significant difference in SUVmax between LCD and MCD (4.23±1.77 vs 4.19±1.86; Z=-0.108,P＞0.05) ; but there was significant difference in SUVmax between the patients with and without clinical manifestations (4.56±2.06 vs 3.41±0.87; Z=-2.443,P＜0.05).No significant difference was found between SUVmax of hyaline vascular CD and plasma cell CD (3.63±0.89 vs 4.26±1.91; Z=-0.519,P＞0.05).Conclusions CD shows primarily lymph node involvement with increased 18F-FDG uptake.However,the degree of FDG uptake does not correlate with clinical presentation or pathological types.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG) PET/CT examination to predict the prognosis of patients after colorectal cancer operation.Methods The retrospective cross-sectional study was adopted.The clinicopathological data of 80 patients with colorectal cancer who were admitted to the First Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from March 2007 to October 2015 were collected.Eighty patients received first preoperative 18 F-FDG PET/CT examination and underwent operations under decisions of patients and their families,and then adjuvant chemotherapy were performed according to the patients' condition.Observation indicators included:(1) preoperative imaging examination,(2) situations of treatment and follow-up,(3) analysis of prognostic factors.The patients were followed up by outpatient examination and telephone interview once every 3 months within postoperative 1 year,once every half a year within postoperative 2 years and then once a year up to May 2016.The follow-up included tumor recurrence or progression and survival of patients.Tumor-free survival time was from postoperative day 1 to tumor recurrence or progression and death or end of follow-up.Overall survival time was from postoperative day 1 to death or end of follow-up.Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (Qn) and M (range).The optimal cutoff point of tumor-free survival of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax),mean standardized uptake value (SUV),metabolism of volume (MTV) and total lesion of glycolysis (TLG) were investigated using the ROC curve analysis,and calculating area under the curve (AUC).The median was used as a cutoff point if there was smaller AUC.The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were respectively used for survival analysis and univariate analysis,and COX proportional hazards model for multivariate analysis.Results (1) Results of preoperative imaging examination:results of PET/CT in patients with colorectal cancer showed there were circumscribed thickening of bowel wall,intestinal cavity strictures,fuzzy fat space around the some lesions,enlarged lymph node and 18 F-FDG uptake increased abnormally.The SUV SUV MTV and TLG of 80 patients were 11.83(4.26,35.42),7.06(2.38,20.92),20.47 cm3 (1.29 cm3,161.50 cm3) and 138.58 (14.17,857.89),respectively.ROC curve showed that the AUC of SUV SUV MTV and TLG were 0.453,0.448,0.815 and 0.749 [95％ confidence interval (CI):0.307-0.600,P ＞0.05;0.303-0.594,P ＞ 0.05;0.717-0.913,P ＜ 0.05;0.635-0.863,P ＜ 0.05],respectively.The median SUVmax (11.83) and SUV (7.06) were used as the cutoff points due to smaller AUC of SUVmax and SUV.The cutoff point of MTV was 18.79 cm3 (sensitivity =86.2％ and specificity =68.3％),and the cutoff point of TLG was 142.05 (sensitivity =75.9％ and specificity =70.7％).(2) Situations of treatment and follow-up:among 80 patients,13 underwent the radical resection of colorectal cancer and resection of liver metastasis and 67 underwent radical resection of colorectal cancer.Sixty-two patients received postoperative chemotherapy,including 45 with chemotherapy regimens of capecitabine and 17 with fluorouracil.Eighty patients were followed up for 41.8 months (range,6.5-109.1 months).During the follow-up,29 patients had tumor recurrence or progression,and 19 patients were dead.The median tumor-free survival time,1-,3-and 5-year tumor-free survival rates in 80 patients were 19.5 months (range,2.0-109.1 months),73.7％,36.3％ and 18.8％,respectively.The median overall survival time,1-,3-and 5-year overall survival rates were 31.8 months (range,3.3-109.1 months),76.3％,37.5％ and 20.0％,respectively.(3) Analysis of prognostic factors:results of univariate analysis showed that tumor location,N staging,M staging,clinical staging,postoperative chemotherapy,MTV and TLG were relative factors affecting postoperative tumor-free survival rate (HR =3.469,5.325,5.295,8.605,2.630,7.388,5.155,95％ CI:1.522-7.906,2.256-12.568,2.405-11.657,2.969-24.937,1.063-6.504,2.550-21.403,2.178-12.204,P ＜ 0.05).The tumor location,tumor differentiation,N staging,M staging,clinical staging,MTV and TLG were relative factors affecting postoperative overall survival rate (HR =2.697,2.814,3.083,2.916,4.193,5.450,4.876,95％ CI:1.011-7.197,1.121-7.062,1.166-8.149,1.140-7.454,1.386-12.678,1.581-18.786,1.727-13.766,P ＜ 0.05).In multivariate analysis,stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ of clinical staging and TLG≥ 142.05 were independent risk factors affecting postoperative tumor-free survival rate (HR =9.879,3.569,95％ CI:1.854-22.836,1.127-11.306,P＜0.05).The stage M1,stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ of clinical staging and TLG≥ 142.05 were independent risk factors affecting postoperative overall survival rate (HR =4.522,9.315,10.120,95％ CI:1.223-16.717,1.338-24.864,2.385-12.947,P＜0.05).Conclusion TLG through 18 F-FDG PET/CT examination is an independent prognostic factor affecting postoperative tumor-free survival rate and overall survival rate in patients with colorectal cancer after curative resection,and it has certainly reference value for prognosis.

Objective To investigate the relationship between metabolic parameters of 18F-FDG PET-CT and cilinicopathological features of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Methods The study comprised 118 patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. All patients undergone 18F-FDG PET-CT before surgery. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) were measured, and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) was calculated. Relationship between metabolic parameters and clinicopathological factors was analyzed. Results SUVmax, MTV and TLG of 118 primary lesions were 11.93 (3.12-41.46), 27.71 cm3 (0.54-347.10 cm3) and 153.13 (1.65-2219.37), respectively. SUVmax was related to tumor differentiation degree and pleural invasion (χ2= 15.358, P= 0.000; Z= -2.875, P= 0.004); MTV was related to tumor differentiation degree, pleural invasion, vascular invasion and lymphatic metastasis (χ2= 13.341, P= 0.001; Z= -2.855, P= 0.004; Z= -2.683, P= 0.008; Z= -3.951, P= 0.000), TLG was also related to these clinicopathological factors (χ2= 15.609, P= 0.001;Z= -3.901, P= 0.002;Z= -2.311, P=0.021;Z= -3.721, P= 0.000). T stage and TNM stage had positive correlation with all metabolic parameters (r= 0.326, 0.794, 0.732;r= 0.358, 0.718, 0.668; all P< 0.05). And for N stage, SUVmax was no correlative (r=0.125, P=0.107), but MTV and TLG were positively correlative (r=0.399, 0.371, both P< 0.05). According the MTV or TLG and tumor size, patiens were divided into three groups: low-risk group, moderate-risk group and high-risk group. Significant differences were found among the three groups not even in MTV model, but also in TLG model (χ2= 20.800, P= 0.000; χ2= 20.069, P= 0.000). Conclusions Metabolic parameters of lung squamous cell carcinoma primary lesion have good correlation with clinicopathological factors, and can reflect partial characteristics of the tumor pathology in a certain extent. Furthermore, the probability of lymphatic metastasis could be predicted by MTV or TLG combined with tumor size.

Objective To determine the prognostic value of maximum standard uptake (SUVmax) of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET-CT in patients with newly diagnosed soft tissue sarcomas (STS).Methods The clinical data of 34 patients with STS undergoing 18F-FDG PET-CT before treatment were analyzed retrospectively.The relationship between SUVmax of PET-CT and prognostic factors was evaluated by MannWhitney' s non-paraetric test and Spearman' s rank correlation test.The prognostic factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis.Results Among 34 patients, the median SUVmax was 10.3 (1.5-28.2), and the median maximum diameter was 6.7 cm (1.8-17.2 cm) with positively association between them (r =0.389, P =0.028).SUVmax was also associated with pathological grade, AJCC staging and distant metastasis, respectively (all P ＜ 0.05).In univariate analysis, distant metastasis, pathological grade, AJCC staging, and SUVmax were found to be the prognostic factors (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate analysis results indicated that only the SUVmax and distant metastasis were the independent unfavorable prognostic factors (both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The SUmax of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET-CT is well correlated with prognostic factors, and it can predict the prognosis of patients with STS.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of 18F-FDG PET-CT imaging on monitoring recurrence, metastasis and therapeutic decision-making in small intestinal adenocarcinoma patients after radical surgery. Methods Twenty-two patients were enrolled, who underwent surgical operation before received PET-CT scan. PET-CT findings were retrospectively observed to compare with the results of follow-up [postoperative pathology and (or) long-term clinical follow-up]. The roles of PET-CT on therapeutic decision-making were then investigated. Results Among 22 patients, 14 cases were finally diagnosed as recurrence and (or) metastasis, the other 8 cases as disease-free survival after long-term follow-up. According to PET-CT, 13 cases were diagnosed as recurrence and (or) metastasis (including 12 true-positive and 1 false-positive), and 9 cases were negative (including 2 false-negative). The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of PET-CT were 85.7 % (12/14), 87.5 % (7/8), 86.4 %(19/22), 92.3%(12/13) and 77.8%(7/9), respectively. The therapeutic decisions were changed in 10 patients (10/22, 45.5 % ) based on PET-CT results. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET-CT has an important clinical value on the detection of recurrence and (or) metastasis of small intestinal adenocarcinoma, which is an ideal method of monitoring.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in staging,therapeutic response evaluation,relapse early detection and prognostic prediction of follicular lymphoma (FL).Methods Twenty-eight patients (12 males,16 females; average age 57 (36-82) years) with pathologically confirmed FL from December 2005 to January 2013 were enrolled.All patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT before treatment.The SUVmax of different staging groups,different pathological grade groups (high:3a+3b; low:1+2) was compared.Seventeen of 28 patients underwent PET/CT after chemotherapy and received phone follow-up (10-88 months) to monitor the progress of treatment.Survival difference was analyzed.Mann-Whitney u test,Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used for data analysis.Results (1) The initial clinical staging without 18F-FDG PET/CT based on Ann Arbor standard changed in 4 cases (up-staging in 3 cases,down-staging in 1 case) after the PET/CT scan.The 18F-FDG uptake (SUVmax) in patients of stage Ⅰ/Ⅱ and stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ was 10.1±3.2 and 11.5±4.9,respectively (Z=-0.619,P＞0.05).The SUVmax in patients of the low grade group (6.9±3.6,n=15) was significantly lower than that of the high grade group (12.4±5.6,n=13) (Z=-3.706,P＜0.01).(2) 17 patients underwent PET/CT scan both before and after chemotherapy,the pre-treatment SUVmax and post-treatment SUVmax were significantly different in CR+PR group (10.8±5.1 vs 3.4±2.3; Z=-2.312,P＜0.05),while there was no significant difference in SD+PD group (11.2±6.9 vs 7.8±3.3; Z=-1.153,P＞0.05).There was a significant difference in the median progress-free survival time between the CR+PR group and the SD+PD group (48 months vs 26 months; x2 =4.207,P＜0.05).Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT has an advantage in clinical staging,therapeutic evaluation,relapse monitoring and prognosis predicting of FL.

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of interim and post-therapy 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with DLBCL.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted in 110 patients (62males,48 females; median age 52 years) with newly diagnosed DLBCL.Forty-two patients underwent interim PET/CT after 4 cycles chemotherapy,44 patients underwent post-therapy PET/CT after 6-8 cycles of chemotherapy,and 24 patients underwent both interim PET/CT and post-therapy PET/CT.Interim and post-therapy PET/CT status (i.e.,positive or negative) were visually interpreted according to criteria of the International Harmonization Project.Three-year progression-free survival (PFS) and 3-year overall survival (OS) was compared between the subjects with positive or negative PET/CT results.x2 test and KaplanMeier analysis were used for data analysis.Results Interim 18F-FDG PET/CT results were positive in 28cases and negative in 38 cases.The median PFS and OS were 20 and 28 months in patients with positive scan results,those were 37 and 39 months in patients with negative results,respectively.Three-year PFS and 3-year OS rates were 17.9％(5/28) and 35.7％(10/28) in patients with positive interim PET/CT results,those were 52.6％ (20/38) and 55.3％ (21/38) in patients with negative results (x2 =8.285,P ＜0.01,x2=2.473,P＞0.05,respectively).Post-therapy 18F-FDG PET/CT results were positive in 20 cases and negative in 48 cases.Median PFS and OS were 21 and 26 months in patients with positive results,those were 54 and 57 months in patients with negative results.Three-year PFS and 3-year OS rates were 20.0％(4/20) and 25.0％ (5/20) in patients with positive results at post-therapy PET/CT,those were 77.1％(37/48) and 83.3％ (40/48) in patients with negative results (x2=19.215,21.462,both P＜0.01).Conclusions Post-therapy 18F-FDG PET/CT is useful to predict prognosis of patients with DLBCL.However,the value of interim PET/CT may be limited in terms of prognosis prediction.

Objective To summarize the imaging manifestations of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH).Methods From January 2008 to June 2012,31 patients (18 males,13 females,average age:42 years) with sHLH were enrolled.All patients were divided into 3 groups:malignancy associated HLH (MAHLH) group (n =13),infection associated HLH (IAHLH) group (n =13) and rheumatosis associated HLH (RAHLH) group (n =5).They all underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT and SUVmax of lesions in each group was calculated.One-way analysis of variance and two-sample t test were used to analyze the SUVmax.Results Twenty-three patients were found splenomegaly with high FDG uptake,including 4 RAHLH patients,9 IAHLH patients and 10 MAHLH patients.The splenetic FDG uptake values (SUVmax) of RAHLH,IAHLH and MAHLH groups were 3.16±0.61,5.67±3.37 and 6.04±3.06,respectively (F=1.051,P＞0.05).The SUVmax of enlarged lymph nodes in IAHLH (n=8) and MAHLH groups (n =7) was 5.35± 1.69 and 10.14±5.24,respectively (t =-2.456,P＜0.05).Increased uptake in bone marrow was found in 17 patients,including 1 RAHLH patient,7 IAHLH patients and 9 MAHLH patients.The SUVmax of bone marrow in IAHLH and MAHLH patients was 5.31±2.05 and 6.36± 3.71 respectively (t=-0.670,P＞0.05).There were 10 cases of hepatomegaly,but only 4 of them had intense FDG uptake (SUVmax 4.9-10.2).The SUVmax of RAHLH,IAHLH and MAHLH groups was 3.02± 1.31,5.62±2.45 and 8.15±4.38,respectively (F=9.123,t=2.562,5.236,3.030,all P＜0.05).Conclusions RAHLH mostly showed splenomegaly with high FDG uptake,IAHLH and MAHLH both showed splenomegaly with lymph node and bone marrow invasion.The SUVmax of MAHLH was the highest.18F-FDG PET/CT imaging manifestations of sHLH may be helpful to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of interim and post-therapy 18fluorine-fluododeoxyglucose(18F-FDG) PET-CT in patients with T-cell lymphoma.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 50 patients diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma(12 patients underwent interim PET-CT only,19 patients underwent interim and post-therapy PET-CT,and the rest 19 patients underwent only post-therapy PET-CT).Interim and post-therapy PET-CT(positive versus negative) were visually interpreted according to the criteria of the International Harmonization Project.The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival(OS) of two groups were calculated.We used the Fisher exact test and KaplanMeier testfor data analysis.Results Interim 18F-FDG PET-CT results were positive in 19 cases and negative in 12 cases.The median PFS and OS were 8 months and 16 months,in patients with positive results,versus 30 months and 36 months,in patients with negative results.The 1-year PFS and 3-year OS rates were 21.1％ (4/19) and 10.5％(2/19) in patients with positive results at interim PET/CT versus 100.0％(12/12) and 66.7％ (8/12) in patients with negative results(P＜0.01.Post-therapy 18F-FDG PET-CT results were positive in 16 cases and negative in 22 cases,the median PFS and OS were 10 months and 20 months in patients with positive results versus 32 months and 41 months in patients with negative results.The 1-year PFS and 3-year OS rates were 12.5％(2/16) and 12.5％(2/16),in patients with positive results at post-therapy PET-CT versus 95.5％(21/22) and 54.5％(12/22),in patients with negative results(P＜0.01).Conclusion Both interim PET-CT status and post-therapy PET-CT have significant value in monitoring response to therapy and predicting prognosis for patients with T-cell lymphoma.