Clinical value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting viable tumor, recurrence and metastases of hepato-cellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization

Objective: Accurate evaluation of treatment result of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by conventional imaging is difficult. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT for detecting residual viable tumor, recurrence and metastases in patients with HCC after TACE. Methods: Twenty-two patients with HCC after TACE were investigated with 18F-FDG PET/CT. The accuracy of FDG PET/CT was determined by the histopathological results or evidences of clinical follow-up. Results: Of all 22 HCC patients after TACE, 18 had intra- and (or) extrahepatic lesions, detected by FDG PET/CT. Six-teen patients had intrahepatic FDG-avid lesion(s). Of the 16 patients, five had intrahepatic FDG-avid lesions located at both lipiodol-rich and -deprive regions, 13 had associated extrahepatic metastases. Of the two HCC patients who had no intrahepatic FDG-avid lesion, there were extrahepatic FDG-avid lesions at the retroperitoneal lymph nodes. In all, 15 HCC had extrahepatic lesions identified by FDG PET/CT. There were lung and lymph nodes (n = 9), bone (n = 2), tumor thrombus at portal vein (n - 1) and diaphragm crus (n = 1). Two patients were false negative. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of FDG PET/CT in detecting intra- and (or) extrahepatic lesions after TACE were 88.9% (16/18) vs 94.7 % (18/19), 4/4 vs 3/3, and 90.9% (20/22) vs 95.5% (21/22), respectively. Conclusion: 18F-FDG PET/CT is potential useful for detection both intra- and (or) extrahepatic lesions in HCC patients after TACE. (authors)