Assessing tumor hypoxia in cervical cancer by positron emission tomography with 60Cu-ATSM: Relationship to therapeutic response - A preliminary report

Farrokh Dehdashti, Perry W. Grigsby, Mark A. Mintun, Jason S. Lewis, Barry A. Siegel, Michael J. Welch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

321 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Tumor hypoxia is associated with poor response to therapy. We have investigated whether pretreatment tumor hypoxia assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) with Cu-60 diacetyl-bis(N4-methylthiosemicarbazone) (60Cu-ATSM) predicts responsiveness to subsequent therapy in cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: Fourteen patients with biopsy-proved cervical cancer were studied by PET with 60Cu-ATSM before initiation of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. 60Cu-ATSM uptake was evaluated semiquantitatively by determining the tumor-to-muscle activity ratio (T/M) and peak slope index of tumor tracer uptake. All patients also underwent clinical PET with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) before institution of therapy. The PET results were correlated with follow-up evaluation (14-24 months). Results: Tumor uptake of 60Cu-ATSM was inversely related to progression-free survival and overall survival (log-rank p = 0.0005 and p = 0.015, respectively). An arbitrarily selected T/M threshold of 3.5 discriminated those likely to develop recurrence; 6 of 9 patients with normoxic tumors (T/M < 3.5) are free of disease at last follow-up, whereas all of 5 patients with hypoxic tumors (T/M > 3.5) have already developed recurrence. Similar discrimination was achieved with the peak slope index. The frequency of locoregional nodal metastasis was greater in hypoxic tumors (p = 0.03). Tumor FDG uptake did not correlate with 60Cu-ATSM uptake (r = 0.04; p = 0.80), and there was no significant difference in tumor FDG uptake between patients with hypoxic tumors and those with normoxic tumors. Conclusion: 60Cu-ATSM-PET in patients with cervical cancer revealed clinically relevant information about tumor oxygenation that was predictive of tumor behavior and response to therapy in this small study.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1233-1238
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics
Volume55
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2003

Keywords

  • Cervical cancer
  • Cu-ATSM
  • Hypoxia
  • Positron emission tomography
  • Response to therapy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Assessing tumor hypoxia in cervical cancer by positron emission tomography with 60Cu-ATSM: Relationship to therapeutic response - A preliminary report'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this