PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Schwarzenberg, Johannes AU - Czernin, Johannes AU - Cloughesy, Timothy F. AU - Ellingson, Benjamin M. AU - Pope, Whitney B. AU - Geist, Cheri AU - Dahlbom, Magnus AU - Silverman, Daniel H.S. AU - Satyamurthy, Nagichettiar AU - Phelps, Michael E. AU - Chen, Wei TI - 3′-Deoxy-3′-<sup>18</sup>F-Fluorothymidine PET and MRI for Early Survival Predictions in Patients with Recurrent Malignant Glioma Treated with Bevacizumab AID - 10.2967/jnumed.111.092387 DP - 2012 Jan 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine PG - 29--36 VI - 53 IP - 1 4099 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/53/1/29.short 4100 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/53/1/29.full SO - J Nucl Med2012 Jan 01; 53 AB - With the dismal prognosis for malignant glioma patients, survival predictions become key elements in patient management. This study compares the value of 3′-deoxy-3′-18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) PET and MRI for early outcome predictions in patients with recurrent malignant glioma on bevacizumab therapy. Methods: Thirty patients treated with bevacizumab combination therapy underwent 18F-FLT PET immediately before and at 2 and 6 wk after the start of treatment. A metabolic treatment response was defined as a decrease of equal to or greater than 25% in tumor 18F-FLT uptake (standardized uptake values) from baseline using receiver-operating-characteristic analysis. MRI treatment response was assessed at 6 wk according to the Response Assessment in Neurooncology criteria. 18F-FLT responses at different times were compared with MRI response and correlated with progression-free survival and overall survival using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Metabolic response based on 18F-FLT was further compared with other outcome predictors using Cox regression analysis. Results: Early and late changes in tumor 18F-FLT uptake were more predictive of overall survival than MRI criteria (P &lt; 0.001 and P = 0.01, respectively). 18F-FLT uptake changes were also predictive of progression-free survival (P &lt; 0.001). The median overall survival for responders was 3.3 times longer than for nonresponders based on 18F-FLT PET criteria (12.5 vs. 3.8 mo, P &lt; 0.001) but only 1.4 times longer using MRI assessment (12.9 vs. 9.0 mo, P = 0.05). On the basis of the 6-wk 18F-FLT PET response, there were 16 responders (53%) and 14 nonresponders (47%), whereas MRI identified 9 responders (7 partial response, 2 complete response, 31%) and 20 nonresponders (13 stable disease, 7 progressive disease, 69%). In 7 of the 8 discrepant cases between MRI and PET, 18F-FLT PET was able to demonstrate response earlier than MRI. Among various outcome predictors, multivariate analysis identified 18F-FLT PET changes at 6 wk as the strongest independent survival predictor (P &lt; 0.001; hazard ratio, 10.051). Conclusion: Changes in tumor 18F-FLT uptake were highly predictive of progression-free and overall survival in patients with recurrent malignant glioma on bevacizumab therapy. 18F-FLT PET seems to be more predictive than MRI for early treatment response.