RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Cancer-associated fibroblasts enhance tumor 18F-FDG uptake and contribute to the intratumor heterogeneity of SUVmax JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 349 OP 349 VO 59 IS supplement 1 A1 Chengfang Shangguan A1 Guifang Gan A1 Jieying Zhang A1 Jinliang Wu A1 Ying Miao A1 Miao Zhang A1 Biao Li A1 Jun Mi YR 2018 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/59/supplement_1/349.abstract AB 349Purpose: Elevated glucose uptake is a hallmark of cancer. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake was believed to indicate the aggressiveness of tumors and the standardized uptake value (SUV) is a well-known measurement for FDG uptake in positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT). However, the SUV is variable due to the heterogeneity of tumors. Methods: 126 patients with colorectal cancer underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning before surgery between Jan 2011 and April 2016. Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) densities were calculated with the inForm Advanced image analysis software and were comparatively analyzed between patients with high and low maximum SUV (SUVmax-high and SUVmax-low). Glucose uptake was evaluated in induced and isolated CAFs and CAF-cocultured colon cancer HCT116 cells. Moreover, micro-PET/CT was performed on xenografted tumors and autoradiography was performed in the AOM/DSS induced colon cancer model. Results: CAFs were glycolytic, evidenced by glucose uptake and upregulated HK2 expression. Compared to non-activated fibroblasts (NAFs), CAFs were more dependent on glucose and sensitive to a glycolysis inhibitor. CAFs increased the SUVmax in xenograft tumors and spontaneous colon cancers. Moreover, multivariate analysis revealed that the SUVmax was only associated with tumor size among conventional parameters in colon cancer patients (126 cases, p = 0.009). Besides tumor size, the CAF density was the critical factor associated with SUVmax and outcome, which was 2.27 ± 0.74 and 1.68 ± 0.45 in the SUVmax-high and the SUVmax-low groups, respectively (p = 0.014). Conclusion: CAFs promote tumor progression and increase SUVmax of 18F-FDG, suggesting CAFs lead to the intratumor heterogeneity of the SUV and the SUVmax is a prognostic marker for cancer patients.