Baseline Metabolic Tumor Volume and Total Lesion Glycolysis Are Associated With Survival Outcomes in Patients With Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

Purpose Although previous studies have demonstrated the prognostic value of positron emission tomography (PET) parameters in other malignancies, the role of PET in pancreatic cancer has yet to be well established. We analyzed the prognostic utility of PET for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) undergoing fractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Materials and Methods Thirty-two patients with LAPC in a prospective clinical trial received up to 3 doses of gemcitabine, followed by 33 Gy in 5 fractions of 6.6 Gy, using SBRT. All patients received a baseline PET scan prior to SBRT (pre-SBRT PET). Metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and maximum and peak standardized uptake values (SUV max and SUV peak ) on pre-SBRT PET scans were calculated using custom-designed software. Disease was measured at a threshold based on the liver SUV, using the equation Liver mean + [2 × Liver sd ]. Median values of PET parameters were used as cutoffs when assessing their prognostic potential through Cox regression analyses. Results Of the 32 patients, the majority were male (n=19, 59%), 65 years or older (n=21, 66%), and had tumors located in the pancreatic head (n=27, 84%). Twenty-seven patients (84%) received induction gemcitabine prior to SBRT. Median overall survival for the entire cohort was 18.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.7-22.0). An MTV of 26.8 cm 3 or greater (hazard ratio [HR] 4.46, 95% CI 1.64-5.88, P P P =.029) and TLG (HR 3.34, 95% CI 1.07-10.48, P =.038) remained independently associated with overall survival in separate multivariate analyses. Conclusions Pre-SBRT MTV and TLG are potential predictive factors for overall survival in patients with LAPC and may assist in tailoring therapy.