Prognostic Value of MTV and TLG of (18)F-FDG PET in Patients with Stage I and II Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: a Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE: The present systematic literature review and meta-analysis focused on examining the significance of total lesion glycolysis (TLG) and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in predicting the prognosis of stages I/II non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on (18)F-FDG PET parameters. METHODS: Electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EMBASE, were comprehensively searched for retrieving relevant articles published in the English language. Furthermore, the significance of TLG and MTV in prognosis prediction was analyzed by pooled hazard ratios (HRs). RESULTS: This work enrolled eight primary studies with 1292 I/II-stage NSCLC cases. The pooled HR (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the ability of increased TLG to predict progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.02 (1.30–2.13) (P=0.350), while for increased MTV it was 3.04 (1.92–4.81) (P=0.793). In addition, the pooled HR (95% CI) for the ability of increased TLG to predict overall survival (OS) was 2.16 (1.49–3.14) (P=0.624). However, higher MTV correlated with OS, and sensitivity analysis showed that the results were not stable. Multivariate and univariate analyses by subgroup analyses stratified by PFS of MTV and OS of TLG exhibited statistically significant differences, without any statistical heterogeneity across various articles. CONCLUSION: The present work suggests the predictive value of PET/CT among stage I and II NSCLC patients. Our results verified that stage I/II NSCLC cases with increased TLG and MTV had a higher risk of side reactions, and TLG is related to increased mortality risk.