The effects of estrogen, progesterone, and C-erbB-2 receptor states on 18F-FDG uptake of primary breast cancer lesions

Abstract

The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate whether correlations exist between 18F-FDG uptake of primary breast cancer lesions and predictive and prognostic factors such as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and C-erbB-2 receptor (C-erbB-2R) states. Methods: Before undergoing partial or total mastectomy, 213 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent 18F-FDG PET (5.2 MBq/kg of body weight). The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) of the primary lesion was measured in each patient. Standard immunohistochemistry was performed on a surgical specimen of the cancer lesion to characterize the receptor state of the tumor cells. Pearson χ2 tests were performed on the cross-tables of different receptor states to test any association that may exist among ER, PR, and C-erbB-2R. Maximum SUV measurements for different receptor states were compared using factorial ANOVA in a completely random design. Results: After exclusion of certain lesions, 118 lesions were analyzed for this study. The mean maximum SUVs of ER-positive and ER-negative lesions were 3.03 ± 0.26 and 5.64 ± 0.75, whereas those of PR were 3.24 ± 0.29 and 4.89 ± 0.67, respectively, and those of C-erbB-2R were 4.64 ± 0.70 and 3.70 ± 0.35, respectively, χ2 tests for ER and PR showed that if one is positive then the other tends to be positive as well (χ2 = 71.054, P < 0.01). For ER and C-erbB-2R states, if ER is positive, C-erbB-2R will more likely be negative (χ2 = 13.026, P < 0.01). No relationship was detected between PR and C-erbB-2R states (χ2 = 3.695, P > 0.05). ANOVAs showed that PR state alone (F = 0.095, P > 0.05) and C-erbB-2R state alone (F = 0.097, P > 0.05) had no effect on 18F-FDG uptake but ER state alone had an effect (F = 9.126, P < 0.01). ER and PR being together had no additional effect on 18F-FDG uptake. Our study also demonstrated that interactions exist between ER and C-erbB-2R state and between PR and C-erbB-2R state. Conclusion: SUV measurements may provide valuable information about the state of ER, PR, and C-erbB-2R and the associated glucose metabolism as measured by 18F-FDG uptake of the primary breast cancer lesions. Such an association may be of importance to treatment planning and outcome in these patients.