Investigation of Clinical Histopathologic Features and Metabolic Parameters of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in Invasive Breast Carcinoma with a Micropapillary Component

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between clinical histopathologic features and micropapillary (MP) ratio with the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) derived from (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in treatment naïve breast cancer. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with breast cancer with a MP component who underwent PET/CT imaging before any local and/or systemic treatment were included in this retrospective study. All clinical histopathological features were recorded. SUV(max) values were measured from (18)F-FDG PET images for primary tumors and metastatic axillary lymph nodes. RESULTS: MP component percentage did not correlate with any clinical histopathological features except age. At early ages, the MP component ratio was significantly higher. Our results showed that there is no significant correlation between the SUV(max) value and MP component percentage. CONCLUSION: A high SUV(max) value is generally expected in aggressive malignancies. However, this assumption may not be valid for the MP subgroup, which has an aggressive course compared to other subgroups in breast cancer.