Physiologic bowel 18f-fdg uptake is related to cardiometabolic risk factors in breast cancer patients

Objectives This study investigated the relationships between physiologic bowel uptake on 18F-FDG PET and cardio-metabolic risk (CMR) factors.

Methods A total of 326 female patients that underwent 18F-FDG PET to determine the initial stage of breast cancer were enrolled. None of the patients had history of diabetes or hypertension. The physiologic bowel uptake on PET was visually graded (low vs. high uptake group) and quantitatively measured using the maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the total bowel (TB SUVmax). Age, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose level (BST), triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were the considered CMR factors. The relationships between physiologic bowel 18F-FDG uptake on PET and diverse CMR factors were analyzed.

Results Among CMR factors, age (p=0.004), BMI (p<0.001), and TG (p<0.001) were significantly different according to visual grade of background intestinal 18F-FDG uptake. Quantitative TB SUVmax showed significant positive correlation with age (r=0.203, p<0.001), BMI (r =0.373, p<0.001), TG (r=0.338, p<0.001), cholesterol (r=0.148, p=0.008), and LDL (r=0.143, p=0.024) and significant negative correlation with HDL (r=-0.147, p=0.022). Multivariate analysis indicated that BMI and TG were independent factors in both visually graded background intestinal 18F-FDG uptake (p=0.027 and p=0.023, respectively) and quantitatively measured TB SUVmax (p=0.006 and p=0.004, respectively).

Conclusions Increased physiologic bowel 18F-FDG uptake on PET may suggest alteration of lipid metabolism and risk of cardio-metabolic disease in non-diabetic and non-hypertensive breast cancer patients. [asterisk][asterisk]This research was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation (2015R1C1A1A02037051 and 2012M3A9B6055379)