PET predicts GI cancer's early response to chemo

F-18 FDG-PET can tell which patients will respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction only two weeks after they begin treatment, according to a study released at the 2007 SNM meeting.

German investigators evaluated 110 patients who underwent FDG-PET to assess response to chemotherapy. Researchers defined as responders patients with 35% or greater decrease in tumor standardized uptake value after two weeks of treatment. Responders went on chemotherapy for 12 weeks before surgery, while nonresponders discontinued treatment and proceeded to surgery right away.

Researchers found statistically significant evidence (p < .002) that responders survived about twice as long as nonresponders during a median follow-up of 2.3 years.