The Prognostic Value of (18)F-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in the Initial Assessment of Primary Tracheal Malignant Tumor: A Retrospective Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential value of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT in predicting the survival of patients with primary tracheal malignant tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An analysis of FDG PET/CT findings in 37 primary tracheal malignant tumor patients with a median follow-up period of 43.2 months (range, 10.8–143.2 months) was performed. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to assess the associations between quantitative (18)F-FDG PET/CT parameters, other clinic-pathological factors, and overall survival (OS). A risk prognosis model was established according to the independent prognostic factors identified on multivariate analysis. A survival curve determined by the Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess whether the prognosis prediction model could effectively stratify patients with different risks factors. RESULTS: The median survival time of the 37 patients with tracheal tumors was 38.0 months, with a 95% confidence interval of 10.8 to 65.2 months. The 3-year, 5-year and 10-year survival rate were 54.1%, 43.2%, and 16.2%, respectively. The metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), maximum standardized uptake value, age, pathological type, extension categories, and lymph node stage were included in multivariate analyses. Multivariate analysis showed MTV (p = 0.011), TLG (p = 0.020), pathological type (p = 0.037), and extension categories (p = 0.038) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Additionally, assessment of the survival curve using the Kaplan-Meier method showed that our prognosis prediction model can effectively stratify patients with different risks factors (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study shows that (18)F-FDG PET/CT can predict the survival of patients with primary tracheal malignant tumors. Patients with an MTV > 5.19, a TLG > 16.94 on PET/CT scans, squamous cell carcinoma, and non-E1 were more likely to have a reduced OS.