Diagnostic value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT versus contrast-enhanced MRI for venous tumour thrombus and venous bland thrombus in renal cell carcinoma.
The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of 18F-FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced MRI (CEMRI) to detect and grade venous tumour thrombus (VTT) and venous bland thrombus (VBT) in RCC and assess invasion of the venous wall by VTT. The PET/CT and CEMRI data of 41 patients with RCC were retrieved. The difference in maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) between VTT and VBT was analysed. According to their pathological diagnosis, the patients were divided into those with and without venous wall invasion. The PET/CT and CEMRI features, including the SUVmax of the primary lesion and VTT, maximum venous diameter, complete occlusion of the vein by VTT, and VTT morphology, were compared between the two groups. All 41 patients had VTT, and eleven of the 41 patients had VBT. The mean SUVmax of the VTT (6.33 ± 4. 68, n = 41) was significantly higher than that of the VBT (1.37 ± 0.26, n = 11; P < 0.001). Ten of the 11 cases of VBT were correctly diagnosed by 18F-FDG PET/CT, and all 11 were diagnosed by CEMRI. Both 18F-FDG PET/CT and CEMRI can effectively detect VTT and distinguish VTT from VBT. 18F-FDG PET/CT is less effective in grading VTT than CEMRI. Complete venous occlusion by VTT indicates venous wall invasion.
Zhu AH
,Hou XY
,Tian S
,Zhang WF
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《Scientific Reports》
Diagnostic performance and prognostic value of preoperative (18)F-FDG PET/CT in renal cell carcinoma patients with venous tumor thrombus.
To observe the diagnostic efficacy of preoperative fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) upon venous tumor thrombus (VTT) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and investigate the prognostic value of imaging parameters integrated with clinicopathological characteristics in patients with VTT after nephrectomy with tumor thrombectomy.
Patients with newly diagnosed RCC who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT were reviewed retrospectively. The diagnostic efficacy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in VTT was analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the clinical variables and PET/CT variables (including maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of primary tumor, VTT SUVmax and primary tumor size) for differentiating early VTT (Mayo 0-II) from advanced VTT (Mayo III-IV). Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to evaluate clinicopathological factors and PET/CT factors (including distant metastasis, primary tumor SUVmax, VTT SUVmax and primary tumor size) for disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with VTT after operation.
A total of 174 eligible patients were included in this study, including 114 men (65.5%) and 60 women (34.5%), with a median age of 58 years (range, 16-81 years). The distribution of pathological tumor stage (T stage) was 56 (T1), 17 (T2), 95 (T3), and 6 cases (T4), respectively. According to WHO/ISUP grade, except for 4 cases of chromophobe cell RCC, there were 14 patients (8.0%) of grade 1, 59 patients (33.9%) of grade 2, 74 patients (42.5%) of grade 3 and 23 patients (13.2%) of grade 4. The median maximum diameter of the primary tumor on PET/CT was 7.3 cm (5.0-9.5 cm). The distal metastasis was observed in 46 patients (26.4%). Sixty-one cases (35.1%) were confirmed with VTT by pathology. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging were 96.7, 99.1, 98.3, 98.3, and 98.2%, in detecting VTT, respectively, and 70.0, 100.0, 94.9, 100.0, and 94.2%, in evaluating the level of VTT, respectively. Elevated VTT SUVmax (≥5.20) could significantly distinguish the early VTT group and advanced VTT group (P = 0.010). In the prognosis analysis, elevated VTT SUVmax (≥4.30) (P = 0.018, HR 3.123, 95% CI 1.212-8.044) and distant metastasis (P = 0.013, HR 3.344, 95% CI 1.293-8.649) were significantly independent predictors for DFS.
Preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT has a high diagnostic efficacy in detecting VTT and evaluating its level in RCC patients. Those patients with elevated VTT SUVmax should be carefully monitored to detect the possibility of disease progression after operation.
Chen S
,Zhao Y
,Tang Q
,Wu C
,Wang A
,Ma L
,Zhang X
,Chen J
,Gao Y
,Liao X
,Feng N
,Fan Y
,Zhang J
,Li X
,Liu M
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Impact of venous tumour thrombus consistency (solid vs friable) on cancer-specific survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma.
To our knowledge, the impact of venous tumour thrombus (VTT) consistency in patients affected by renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has never been addressed.
To analyse the effect of VTT consistency on cancer-specific survival (CSS).
We retrospectively analysed 174 consecutive patients with RCC and renal vein or inferior vena cava (IVC) VTT who underwent surgical treatment between 1989 and 2007 at our institute.
All patients underwent radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy.
Pathologic specimens were reviewed by a single uropathologist. In addition to traditional pathologic features, the morphologic aspect of the tumour thrombus was evaluated to distinguish solid from friable patterns. The prognostic role of thrombus consistency (solid vs friable) on CSS was assessed by means of Cox regression models.
The VTT was solid in 107 patients (61.5%) and friable in 67 patients (38.5%). The presence of a friable VTT increased the risk of having synchronous nodal or distant metastases, higher tumour grade, higher pathologic stage, and simultaneous perinephric fat invasion (all p < 0.05). The median follow-up was 24 mo. The median CSS was 33 mo; the median CSS was 8 mo in patients with a friable VTT and 55 mo in patients with a solid VTT (p < 0.001). On multivariable analyses, the presence of a friable VTT was an independent predictor of CSS (p = 0.02). The power of our conclusion may be somewhat limited by the relatively small study population and the retrospective nature of the study.
In patients with RCC and VTT, the presence of a friable thrombus is an independent predictor of CSS. If our finding is confirmed by further studies, the consistency of the tumour thrombus should be introduced into routine pathologic reports to provide better patient risk stratification.
Bertini R
,Roscigno M
,Freschi M
,Strada E
,Angiolilli D
,Petralia G
,Matloob R
,Sozzi F
,Capitanio U
,Da Pozzo LF
,Colombo R
,Guazzoni G
,Cremonini A
,Montorsi F
,Rigatti P
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