Purpose: This work investigates the correlation between positron emission tomography (PET) images and the expressions of survivin, Ki67, and CD34, as well as the clinicopathological characteristics of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: Thirty-three NSCLC cases were scanned with ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG), PET before surgery. Tumor resections were used to evaluate the expressions of survivin, Ki67, and CD34 by immunohistochemical assay. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), immunohistochemical results, as well as clinicopathological characteristics in NSCLC were compared and analyzed.
Results: The average SUVmax for the 33 NSCLC was 10.5 ± 5.4. The expressions of survivin and Ki67 were 84.8% (28 of 33) and 72.7% (24 of 33), respectively. The median count of microvasculature vessel density labeled by CD34 was 24.5 ± 6.7. In the entire group, SUVmax was significantly correlated to Ki67, histological type, as well as clinical type (P = 0.010, 0.048, 0.029, respectively). It revealed a median survival of 33 ± 0.6 months for SUVmax below 11 versus a median survival of 27 ± 1.3 months for SUVmax values above 11 (P = 0.013). There were no significant correlations between SUVmax and expressions of survivin and CD34, and no correlations involving age, sex, differentiation, tumor node metastasis stage, and lymph node metastasis.
Conclusion: SUV-indexed FDG metabolic activity correlated significantly with proliferative activity (Ki67 expression) as well as the histological and clinical tumor type. These biological predictive markers combined with ¹⁸F-FDG PET might provide more useful information on the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with NSCLC. These conclusions require confirmation with further studies.