FET PET in the evaluation of indeterminate brain lesions on MRI: Differentiating glioma from other non-neoplastic causes - A pilot study

18 F-FET PET maximum standard uptake value and WHO tumour classification grade in glioma

BACKGROUND

In the area of oncology, molecular imaging techniques are becoming increasingly utilised. In neuro-oncology imaging, ¹⁸ Fluoro-O-(2) fluoroethyl-L-tyrosine (¹⁸ F-FET) is one of the molecular tracers used in positron-emission tomography (PET). Here, we investigated the correlation between maximum standard uptake value (SUV) of ¹⁸ F-FET PET and histologically determined World Health Organization (WHO) grade in glioma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective review of all ¹⁸ F-FET PET studies conducted between August 2014 and August 2019. Review was conducted to identify imaging studies performed on patients who had a glioma with histopathology results from surgical resection or biopsy available.

RESULTS

A total of 31 ¹⁸ F-FET PET studies of histologically confirmed glioma were included. WHO grades ranged from II-IV. A positive correlation between maximum SUV uptake on ¹⁸ F-FET PET and WHO grade was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a correlation identified between WHO glioma grade and maximum SUV on ¹⁸ F-FET PET. Further studies are recommended to explore this relationship.