Total lesion glycolysis using ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT as a prognostic factor for locally advanced esophageal cancer

Standardized uptake value (SUV), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) have been considered prognostic factors for survival in many cancers. However, their prognostic value for radiotherapy-treated squamous esophageal cancer has not been evaluated. In this study, SUV, MTV, and TLG were measured to predict their prognostic role in overall survival (OS) in 38 esophageal cancer patients who had undergone ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before radiotherapy. TLG demonstrated higher sensitivity and specificity for predicting OS than MTV and SUV; and a better OS was observed in patients with low TLG compared to those with high TLG in locally advanced disease (OS, 46.9 months; 95% confidence interval [CI], 33.50-60.26 vs. 25.3 months; 95% CI, 8.37- 42.28; P = 0.003). Multivariate analyses in these patients determined that TLG and the use of combination chemotherapy were the independent prognostic factors for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 7.12; 95% CI, 2.038-24.857; P = 0.002 and HR, 6.76; 95% CI, 2.149-21.248; P = 0.001, respectively). These results suggest that TLG is an independent prognostic factor for OS and a better predictor of survival than MTV and SUV in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer treated with radiotherapy.