Correlation between F18-FDG PET/CT Imaging and BRAF V600E Genetic Mutation for the Early Assessment of Treatment Response in Papillary Thyroid Cancers

Abstract

In thyroid neoplastic pathology, the BRAF V600E mutation is shown to be involved in the oncogenesis of papillary thyroid cancer and its subtypes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation between the mutation of the BRAF V600E oncogene and the pathological standardized uptake values (SUV) at the F18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F18-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) evaluation, for a group of 20 patients with radically treated (total thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy) papillary thyroid cancer, with subclinical persistent disease, at 6 months after the initial treatment. We analyzed the correlations between the values of SUV and the presence of the BRAF mutation as well with other prognostic factors such as stage, age, specific tumor markers (thyroglobulin and anti-thyroglobulin), extrathyroid extension, the presence of metastatic lymph nodes or distant metastasis. The value of SUV in the case of BRAF+ (positive) patients was higher than in the negative ones, but without statistical significance, thus, the values of the SUV cannot be a predictable factor for the presence of the genetic mutation. There was a statistically significant correlation in BRAF+ subgroup between the SUV values and the positive resection limit following surgery, showing a higher SUV value in the PET/CT evaluation. No correlation was observed between the aforementioned prognostic factors involved in papillary thyroid cancer and the BRAF V600E mutation.

A Comparative Study between 18F-FDG PET/CT and Conventional Imaging in the Evaluation of Progressive Disease and Recurrence in Ovarian Carcinoma

“…All of the PET/CT images were evaluated by a team, formed by a nuclear medicine physician and a radiologist. For all PET/CT studies, we used SUVlbm (the standardized uptake value lean body mass) as a semi-quantitative parameter for the F18-FDG uptake calculation, maintaining a standard protocol on the workstation (Volumetrix for PET-CT) [26].…”

Special Issue: Present and Future of Personalised Medicine for Endocrine Cancers

“…The aim of this Special Issue entitled “Present and Future of Personalised Medicine for Endocrine Cancers” was to offer an overview of exciting new research in the area of endocrine tumours that may set the stage for an innovative personalised management and future precision medicine modalities for individualised care. This issue encompasses nine publications on basic, translational and clinical research in different types of endocrine malignancies, including thyroid cancer [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], adrenocortical neoplasms [ 12 , 13 , 14 ], pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma [ 15 ] and pituitary tumours [ 16 ].…”

“…Looking across diseases, some themes are recurrent, such as the efforts to identify effective biomarkers useful to improve differential diagnosis and/or prognostication of endocrine cancers [ 11 , 12 , 14 , 15 ] or to predict response to treatment [ 10 , 15 ]. More specifically, in the field of thyroid cancers, Piciu et al evaluated the correlation among different prognostic factors in papillary thyroid cancer, including the mutation of the BRAF V600E oncogene and the pathological standardized uptake values at the F18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) [ 9 ]. In addition, Ieni and colleagues reviewed the role of molecular variability and intra-tumoral heterogeneity for the prognostic classification and clinical management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) [ 11 ].…”