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. 2022 Jun 1;47(6):517-524.
doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000004185. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Role of Dynamic Parameters of 18F-DOPA PET/CT in Pediatric Gliomas

Francesco Fiz  1 , Fabiano Bini  2 , Edoardo Gabriele  2 , Gianluca Bottoni  1 , Maria Luisa Garrè  3 , Franco Marinozzi  2 , Claudia Milanaccio  3 , Antonio Verrico  3 , Michela Massollo  1 , Victoria Bosio  4 , Marco Lattuada  4 , Andrea Rossi  5 , Antonia Ramaglia  5 , Matteo Puntoni  6 , Giovanni Morana, Arnoldo Piccardo  1
Affiliations

Role of Dynamic Parameters of 18F-DOPA PET/CT in Pediatric Gliomas

Francesco Fiz et al. Clin Nucl Med. .

Abstract

Purpose of the report: PET with 18F-DOPA can be used to evaluate grading and aggressiveness of pediatric cerebral gliomas. However, standard uptake parameters may underperform in circumscribed lesions and in diffuse pontine gliomas. In this study, we tested whether dynamic 18F-DOPA PET could overcome these limitations.

Patients and methods: Patients with available dynamic 18F-DOPA PET were included retrospectively. Static parameters (tumor/striatum ratio [T/S] and tumor/cortex ratio [T/N]) and dynamic ones, calculated on the tumor time activity curve (TAC), including time-to-peak (TTP), slope steepness, the ratio between tumor and striatum TAC steepness (dynamic slope ratio [DSR]), and TAC shape (accumulation vs plateau), were evaluated as predictors of high/low grading (HG and LG) and of progression-free survival and overall survival.

Results: Fifteen patients were included; T/S, T/N, TTP, TAC slope steepness, and DSR were not significantly different between HG and LG. The accumulation TAC shape was more prevalent in the LG than in the HG group (75% vs 27%). On progression-free survival univariate analysis, TAC accumulation shape predicted longer survival (P < 0.001), whereas T/N and DSR showed borderline significance; on multivariate analyses, only TAC shape was retained (P < 0.01, Harrell C index, 0.93-0.95). On overall survival univariate analysis, T/N (P < 0.05), DSR (P < 0.05), and TAC "accumulating" shape predicted survival (P < 0.001); once more, only this last parameter was retained in the multivariate models (P < 0.05, Harrell C index, 0.86-0.89).

Conclusions: Dynamic 18F-DOPA PET analysis outperforms the static parameter evaluation in grading assessment and survival prediction. Evaluation of the curve shape is a simple-to-use parameter with strong predictive power.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared.

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