Kafkaletos Athanasios, Sachpazidis Ilias, Mix Michael, Carles Montserrat, Stoian Raluca, Schäfer Henning, Bock Michael, Baltas Dimos, Grosu Anca L
Division of Medical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical Centre - University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty - University of Freiburg, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site DKTK-Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical Faculty, Medical Centre - University of Freiburg, University of Freiburg, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site DKTK-Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Radiat Oncol. 2025 Sep 1;20(1):137. doi: 10.1186/s13014-025-02716-6.
In this study we examined the correlation between standardized uptake value (SUV) of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) within the gross tumor volume (GTV) of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In addition, we assessed the comparability of cell density (ρ) estimates obtained from FDG PET and MRI data.
Twenty-one HNSCC patients from a prospective FMISO imaging trial underwent pre-treatment PET/CT and MRI. We assessed correlations between FDG SUV (mean, max) and ADC (mean, min) within the GTV using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The tumor cell density within the GTV was calculated from FDG SUV and from ADC maps. For the estimation of ADC-based cell density, we used a published tumor cell volume fraction (v). Agreement between FDG- and ADC-derived cell density estimates was assessed. The best-fitting v* was computed to achieve equal mean ρ and ρ for each patient and was compared to the literature.
The SUV and ADC metrics showed up to moderate negative correlations, but none of them were statistically significant at p < 0.05. The correlation of SUV vs. ADC with Pearson's correlation coefficient r = -0.426 and p = 0.054 and SUV vs. ADC with r = -0.414 and p = 0.062 suggested a weak negative trend. The average and standard deviation of mean ρ and ρ across our cohort were (1.8 ± 0.6) × 10 cells/ml and (3.3 ± 0.2) × 10 cells/ml. The difference between the mean ρ and ρ was statistically significant (p < 0.001). To achieve equal mean ρ and ρ for each patient, the mean optimal v* with standard deviation was 0.29 ± 0.09. Although significantly lower than the published mean v (0.54), v* lies within the published range of v for HNSCCs (0.28 to 0.75).
ADC and SUV metrics exhibited moderate but marginally insignificant correlation in this dataset. Although not directly interchangeable, the two methods provide comparable, clinically relevant cell density estimates, offering flexibility to use the most accessible modality for individualized treatment planning.
Registered at German Clinical Trials Register on 20/08/2015 (DRKS00003830).
在本研究中，我们检测了头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）患者大体肿瘤体积（GTV）内[F]氟脱氧葡萄糖（FDG）的标准化摄取值（SUV）与表观扩散系数（ADC）之间的相关性。此外，我们评估了从FDG PET和MRI数据获得的细胞密度（ρ）估计值的可比性。
来自一项前瞻性FMISO成像试验的21例HNSCC患者在治疗前接受了PET/CT和MRI检查。我们使用Pearson相关系数评估了GTV内FDG SUV（均值、最大值）与ADC（均值、最小值）之间的相关性。通过FDG SUV和ADC图计算GTV内的肿瘤细胞密度。为了估计基于ADC的细胞密度，我们使用了已发表的肿瘤细胞体积分数（v）。评估了FDG衍生和ADC衍生的细胞密度估计值之间的一致性。计算出最佳拟合v*，以使每位患者的平均ρ和ρ相等，并与文献进行比较。
SUV和ADC指标显示出中等程度的负相关，但在p < 0.05时均无统计学意义。SUV与ADC的相关性，Pearson相关系数r = -0.426且p = 0.054，以及SUV与ADC的相关性r = -0.414且p = 0.062，提示有微弱的负向趋势。我们队列中平均ρ和ρ的平均值及标准差分别为(1.8 ± 0.6)×10细胞/ml和(3.3 ± 0.2)×10细胞/ml。平均ρ与ρ之间的差异具有统计学意义（p < 0.001）。为使每位患者的平均ρ和ρ相等，平均最佳v及其标准差为0.29 ± 0.09。尽管显著低于已发表的平均v（0.54），但v仍在已发表的HNSCC的v范围内（0.28至0.75）。
在该数据集中，ADC和SUV指标表现出中等程度但略微无显著意义的相关性。尽管这两种方法不能直接互换，但它们提供了可比的、临床相关的细胞密度估计值，为个性化治疗计划提供了灵活性，可使用最易获取的检查方式。
于2015年8月20日在德国临床试验注册中心注册（DRKS00003830）。
