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Relationship of Uptake of Technetium-99m(Sn)-N-Pyridoxyl-5-Methyltryptophan by Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Prognosis

Departments of Nuclear Medicine, Field Research, Medical Infomatics, Surgery, Pathology, Radiology, and Internal Medicine, The Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, Japan

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Yoshihisa Hasegawa, MD, Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, The Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, 3-3, Nakamichi 1-chome Higashinariku, Osaka (537), Japan.

ABSTRACT

The relationship of technetium-99m(Sn)-N-pyridoxyl-5-methyltryptophan (^99mTc-PMT) uptake by hepatic tumors to survival was studied in 162 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The median survival of 82 patients in whom hepatic tumors showed increased uptake in delayed ^99mTc-PMT imaging was 1013 days, which was significantly longer than the survival time of 398.5 days of 80 patients in whom hepatic tumors did not show increased uptake of radioactivity (p < 0.002). The relationship between the ability of hepatic tumors to take up ^99mTc-PMT and survival was also analyzed in patients with HCC showing filling defects in ^99mTc-colloid liver images and, in relation to the therapy, serum values of bilirubin and alpha-fetoprotein. Results indicated that the degree of ^99mTc-PMT uptake by hepatic tumors is closely correlated with the prognosis of patients with HCC.