FDG-PET-Detected Extracranial Metastasis in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Staging for Surgery or Radical Radiotherapy

Abstract

The prognostic significance of extracranial distant metastasis detected by positron emission tomography (PET) was investigated in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Forty-two patients staged with 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET-detected distant metastasis before planned surgery (n=7) or radical radiotherapy (RT)/chemoradiotherapy (n=35) for NSCLC were identified from a prospective database. The influence of metastasis number and other prognostic factors was investigated using Cox's regression analysis. Treatment after PET included surgery (n=2), radical RT (n =5), palliative RT (n=25), chemotherapy (n=8) or supportive care (n=2). All but 4 patients had died by the last follow-up. Median survival was 9 months overall, 12 months for 27 patients with single PET-detected metastasis and 5 months for 15 patients with >1 metastasis (p=0.009). It was found that the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (p=0.027) but not pre-PET stage, weight loss or metastasis site correlated with survival. PET-detected metastatic tumor burden appeared to influence survival and should be evaluated as a prognostic factor in NSCLC.