This study aimed to determine whether texture parameters could be used in differentiation between the tumor and the peritumoral tissues based on hybrid 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/ computed tomography imaging for patients with rectal cancer.Methods: Seven parameters, including heterogeneity, entropy, energy, skewness, kurtosis, standard deviation, and average brightness, were extracted from positron emission tomography/computed tomography scans of 22 patients (12 male and 10 female; mean age, 61 ± 2 years).
Results:The peritumoral tissue had a significantly lower value of the heterogeneity parameter (23%) than the tumor. Tumor size (r = −0.48, P < 0.05) and extramural venous invasion scores (r = 0.64, P < 0.05) correlated with heterogeneity in the peritumoral tissue. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in the correlation coefficients between men and women.Conclusions: Therefore, we provided additional quantitative information to differentiate the tumor from the peritumoral tissue and indicated possible application for extramural venous invasion evaluation in rectal cancer.