Abstract
BACKGROUND: Microvascular infiltration (MVI) before liver transplantation (LT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with postoperative tumor recurrence and survival. MVI is mainly assessed by pathological analysis of tissue samples, which is invasive and heterogeneous. PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) with 18 F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) as a tracer has been widely used in the examination of malignant tumors. This study investigated the association between 18 F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters and MVI before LT in HCC patients. METHODS: About 124 HCC patients who had 18 F-FDG PET/CT examination before LT were included. The patients' clinicopathological features and 18 F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters were recorded. Correlations between clinicopathological features, 18 F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters, and MVI were analyzed. ROC curve was used to determine the optimal diagnostic cutoff value, area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity for predictors of MVI. RESULT: In total 72 (58.06%) patients were detected with MVI among the 124 HCC patients. Univariate analysis showed that tumor size ( P = 0.001), T stage ( P < 0.001), maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) ( P < 0.001), minimum standardized uptake value (SUV min ) ( P = 0.031), mean standardized uptake value (SUV mean ) ( P = 0.001), peak standardized uptake value (SUV peak ) ( P = 0.001), tumor-to-liver ratio (SUV ratio ) ( P = 0.010), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) ( P = 0.006), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) ( P = 0.011) and MVI were significantly different. Multivariate logistic regression showed that tumor size ( P = 0.018), T stage ( P = 0.017), TLG ( P = 0.023), and MTV ( P = 0.015) were independent predictors of MVI. In the receiver operating characteristic curve, TLG predicted MVI with an AUC value of 0.645. MTV predicted MVI with an AUC value of 0.635. Patients with tumor size ≥5 cm, T3-4, TLG > 400.67, and MTV > 80.58 had a higher incidence of MVI. CONCLUSION: 18 F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters correlate with MVI and may be used as a noninvasive technique to predict MVI before LT in HCC patients.