Differences between [¹⁸F]FLT and [¹⁸F]FDG Uptake in PET/CT Imaging in CC Depend on Vaginal Bacteriology

Abstract

This study aims to investigate if vaginal bacteriology obtained prior to treatment influences the 3′-deoxy-3 18F-fluorothymidine (FLT) [18F]FLT and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose (2-[18F]FDG) [18F]FDG parameters in positron emission tomography (PET/CT) in cervical cancer (CC) patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on 39 women with locally advanced histologically confirmed cervical cancer who underwent dual tracer PET/CT examinations. The [18F]FLT and [18F]FDG PET parameters in the primary tumor, including SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV, heterogeneity, before radiotherapy (RT) were analyzed, depending on the bacteriology. The p-values max, and SUVmin values for three independent groups for the [18F]FLT. Conclusions: The lowest values of SUVmax and SUVmin for [18F]FLT are registered in Gram-negative bacteria, higher are in Gram-positive, and the absence of bacteria causes the highest [18F]FLT values.

Keywords

• 18F-fluorothymidine ([¹⁸F]FLT)
• d-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG)%22%2C%22default_operator%22%3A%22AND%22%7D%7D%7D"> 18F-fluoro-<span style="font-variant: small-caps">d</span>-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG)
• positron emission tomography computed tomography
• vaginal bacteriology
• cervical cancer