[18F]Fluorothymidine positron emission tomography before and 7 days after gefitinib treatment predicts response in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of 3'-deoxy-3'-[18F]fluorothymidine (FLT)-positron emission tomography (PET) for predicting response and patient outcome of gefitinib therapy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Experimental design: Nonsmokers with advanced or recurrent adenocarcinoma of the lung were eligible. FLT-PET images of the thorax were obtained before and 7 days after the start of gefitinib (250 mg/d) therapy, the maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of primary tumors were measured, and the percent changes in SUVmax were calculated. After 6 weeks of therapy, the responses were assessed by computed tomography of the chest.

Results: Among 31 patients who were enrolled, we analyzed 28 patients for whom we had complete data. Chest computed tomography revealed partial response in 14 (50%), stable disease in 4 (14%), and progressive disease in 10 (36%) after 6 weeks of treatment. Pretreatment SUVmax of the tumors did not differ between responders and nonresponders. At 7 days after the initiation of therapy, the percent changes in SUVmax were significantly different (-36.0 +/- 15.4% versus 10.1 +/- 19.5%; P < 0.001). Decrease of > 10.9% in SUVmax was used as the criterion for predicting response. The positive and negative predictive values were both 92.9%. The time to progression was significantly longer in FLT-PET responders than nonresponders (median, 7.9 versus 1.2 months; P = 0.0041).

Conclusion: FLT-PET can predict response to gefitinib 7 days after treatment in nonsmokers with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung. The change in tumor SUVmax obtained by FLT-PET seems to be a promising predictive variable.