RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 18F-FDG PET/CT of Non–Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Under Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Background-Based Adaptive-Volume Metrics Outperform TLG and MTV in Predicting Histopathologic Response JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 849 OP 854 DO 10.2967/jnumed.115.167684 VO 57 IS 6 A1 Irene A. Burger A1 Ruben Casanova A1 Seraina Steiger A1 Lars Husmann A1 Paul Stolzmann A1 Martin W. Huellner A1 Alessandra Curioni A1 Sven Hillinger A1 C. Ross Schmidtlein A1 Alex Soltermann YR 2016 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/6/849.abstract AB Assessment of tumor response after chemotherapy using 18F-FDG PET metrics is gaining acceptance. Several studies have suggested that the parameters metabolically active tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) are superior to SUVmax for measuring tumor burden. However, the measurement of MTV and TLG is still controversial; the most common method uses an absolute threshold of 42% of SUVmax. Recently, we implemented a background-adaptive method to determine the background-subtracted lesion activity (BSL) and the background-subtracted volume (BSV). In this study, we investigated the correlation between such PET metrics and histopathologic response in non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Methods: Forty-four NSCLC patients were retrospectively identified. Their PET/CT data on both types of scan before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed regarding SUVmax, MTV, TLG, BSL, and BSV, as well as the relative changes in these parameters. The tumor regression score as an indicator of histopathologic response was scored on hematoxylin- and eosin-stained sections of the surgical specimens using a 4-tiered scale (scores 1–4). The correlation between score and the absolute and relative PET metrics after chemotherapy was analyzed using Spearman rank correlation tests. Results: Tumors that demonstrated a good response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy had significantly lower 18F-FDG activity than nonresponding tumors (scores 3 and 4: SUVmax, 4.2 [range, 1.8–7.9] vs. scores 1 and 2: SUVmax, 8.1 [range, 1.4–40.4]; P = 0.001). The same was found for change in SUVmax and score (P = 0.001). PET volume metrics based on a 42% fixed threshold for SUVmax did not correlate with score (TLG, P = 0.505; MTV, P = 0.386). However, both of the background activity–based PET volume metrics—BSL and BSV—significantly correlated with score (P < 0.001 each). Conclusion: PET volume metrics based on background-adaptive methods correlate better with histopathologic tumor regression score in NSCLC patients under neoadjuvant chemotherapy than algorithms and methods using a fixed threshold (42% SUVmax).