Significance of baseline FDG-PET/CT scan as a method of staging regional lymph nodes in patients with operable distal oesophageal or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

George Papaxoinis, Jamie M J Weaver, Ana Patrao, Sofia Stamatopoulou, Alia Alchawaf, Vikki Owen-Holt, Theodora Germetaki, Zoe Kordatou, Wasat Mansoor, Leila Khoja

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The new American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition (AJCC8) staging is the first to describe separate clinical and pathology staging systems, but still has low performance to predict prognosis in patients with oesophageal/gastroesophageal junction (O/GOJ) adenocarcinoma, who are candidates for surgery. Recent studies have demonstrated that O/GOJ cancer patients with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avid regional lymph nodes (RLNs) may have poor prognosis. The aim of our study was to examine whether the baseline assessment of the FDG uptake of RLN improves the prognostic accuracy of the new AJCC8 staging.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This single-centre retrospective study included patients with operable FDG avid O/GOJ adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative chemotherapy. All patients were reclassified according to the new AJCC8 clinical staging. Prognostic factors for time-to-progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were explored.

RESULTS: Of 430 patients included in the study, 180 (41.9%) had FDG avid RLN at baseline PET/CT scan before starting perioperative chemotherapy. The presence of FDG avid RLN was significantly and independently associated with shorter TTP and OS, especially in clinical stage III patients (p < .001 in both cases). Stage III patients with FDG avid RLN had similar TTP and OS to those with stage IVA. Classifying stage III patients with FDG avid RLN into stage IVA led to a significant improvement of the prognostic accuracy of the new AJCC8 clinical staging system (Harrell's concordance index improved from 0.555 to 0.588, p < .001). Of 430 patients starting perioperative chemotherapy, 332 underwent radical tumour resection. The presence of FDG avid RLN before starting perioperative chemotherapy could additionally predict a significantly shorter postoperative time-to-relapse and OS (p < .001 in both cases).

CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the incorporation of RLN status (by FDG PET/CT scan) into the AJCC8 staging system of O/GOJ adenocarcinoma improves its prognostic accuracy and may also improve treatment stratification.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1224-1232
Number of pages9
JournalActa Oncologica
Volume56
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2017

Keywords

  • Adenocarcinoma/diagnostic imaging
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Esophageal Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging
  • Esophagogastric Junction/diagnostic imaging
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/metabolism
  • Humans
  • Lymph Nodes/diagnostic imaging
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/diagnostic imaging
  • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography/methods
  • Prognosis
  • Radiopharmaceuticals/metabolism
  • Retrospective Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Significance of baseline FDG-PET/CT scan as a method of staging regional lymph nodes in patients with operable distal oesophageal or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this