Background/purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the usefulness of positron emission tomography (PET) in deciding on strategies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The following two parameters were evaluated: the ability of PET to provide an estimation of the progression of pancreatic cancer, and the ability of PET to predict survival and the effect of chemoradiotherapy.
Methods: Forty-two patients underwent PET as part of the procedure for making a diagnosis of pancreatic tumors. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) levels were compared with clinicopathological factors and analyzed.
Results: PET provided a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 67%, and an overall accuracy of 85% for the diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy. Tumors with distant metastases showed significantly higher SUV levels than tumors without metastasis. In the patients who received chemoradiotherapy, the overall survival of the group in which SUVmax was less than 7.0 was better than that of the group in which SUVmax was more than 7.0.
Conclusions: We conclude that PET is a useful tool for determining pathological status and distant metastasis in pancreatic cancer, and for predicting the prognosis of patients receiving chemoradiotherapy.