Table 7.
Malignant potential with PET uptake (positive or negative) of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.
| Study | n | Inclusion Criteria of Tumor |
Treatment (n) | Evaluation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ida et al. [85] | 121 | ≤3 tumors and ≤3 cm | RFA | Outcome (recurrence, OS) | PET positivity was one of the independent factors for metastatic recurrence (HR, 10.297; 95% CI, 3.128–33.898; p < 0.001) and OS (HR, 7.300; 95% CI, 1.920–27.751; p = 0.004). |
| Park et al. [86] | 92 | Early stage | LR | Outcome (recurrence, OS) | PET positivity was one of the independent factors for disease-free survival (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.273–6.158; p = 0.01). In PET-positive HCC, OS of narrow resection margin group was significantly shorter than that of wide resection margin group (p < 0.001). |
| Lim et al. [87] | 78 | Early stage | LR | Microvascular invasion Outcome (recurrence) |
Predictability of PET for microvascular invasion of as follows: sensitivity was 62%, specificity was 76%, positive predictive value was 71%, and negative predictive value was 53%, respectively. PET positive was one of the independent factors for early recurrence (HR, 5.8; 95% CI, 1.6–20.4; p = 0.006). |
| Yang et al. [88] | 38 | Milan criteria (within/beyond) | LTP | Outcome (recurrence) | The association between PET positivity and tumor recurrence was significant (p = 0.003). The 2-year recurrence-free survival rates for the PET-positive group and PET-negative group were 46.1% and 85.1%, respectively (p = 0.0005). |
| Kornberg et al. [89] | 42 | Milan criteria (within/beyond) | LTP | Microvascular invasion Outcome (recurrence) |
PET positivity was an independent factor for microvascular invasion (HR, 13.4; 95% CI, 0.003–0.126; p = 0.001). The 3-year recurrence-free survival rates beyond the Milan criteria/PET-negative group and beyond the Milan criteria/PET-positive group were 94% and 29%, respectively (p < 0.001). |
| Lee et al. [90] | 280 | Milan criteria (within/beyond) | LTP | Outcome (recurrence, OS) | In patients beyond the Milan criteria, PET positivity was one of the independent factors for recurrence-free survival (HR, 3.803; 95% CI, 1.876–7.707; p < 0.001) and OS (HR, 2.714; 95% CI, 1.239–5.948; p = 0.013). |
CI: confidence interval; HCC; hepatocellular carcinoma; HR: hazard ratio; LR: liver resection; LTP: liver transplantation; OS: overall survival; PET: positron emission tomography; RFA: radiofrequency ablation; SUV: standardized uptake values.