Relationship between 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters and liver metastasis from colorectal cancer

Objective To investigate the relationship between 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT metabolic parameters of colorectal cancer (CRC) and liver metastasis. Methods A total of 98 CRC patients (66 males, 32 females, average age: (64±13) years) from January 2012 to October 2016 in Shanghai Renji Hospital were enrolled in this retrospective study. All patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT and had not received any treatment before surgery. The relationships between clinical pathological results, metabolic parameters and liver metastasis were analyzed. Data were analyzed using χ2 test and logistic regression analysis. Results Patients were divided into two groups, 78 without liver metastasis, 20 with liver metastasis. Univariate analysis showed that the tumor primary location(χ2=5.983), T stage(χ2=6.447), serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels(χ2=5.501), metabolic tumor volume (MTV; χ2=6.282) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG; χ2=9.046) were significantly different between the two groups (all P<0.05). Multiple factor analysis showed that the tumor primary location, T stage, serum CEA levels, MTV and TLG (odds ratio (OR): 0.059-7.575)were independent risk factors of CRC liver metastasis, and MTV and TLG were negatively correlated with liver metastasis. Conclusions Tumor primary location, T stage, serum CEA levels, MTV and TLG are independent risk factors of CRC liver metastasis. MTV and TLG are negatively correlated with liver metastasis. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; Neoplasm metastasis; Liver; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose