The correlation analysis between ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT in breast cancer with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the expression of Ki-67 and COX-2 before neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Objective To study the expression of Ki-67(a kind of proliferation cell nuclear antigen), cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)in breast cancer before neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and its correlation with the changes of maximum standarded uptake value(SUV_max).

Methods In a prospertive trial, ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT were performed in 19 women with primary breast cancer before and after the first and second cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy respectively, the changes of SUV_max were computered.Divided the patients into different groups according to the Ki-67 and COX-2 expression, then compared the rate of change of SUV_max in different groups.

Results There was no correlation between the changes of SUV_max after chemotherapy and the expression of Ki-67, COX-2 before neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Conclusions The expression of Ki-67 and COX-2 before neoadjuvant chemotherapy were unable to sufficiently explain the changes of ¹⁸F-FDG uptake during the chemotherapy process.The metabolic changes were most likely explained by a complex interaction between cellular energy demand and tumoral microenvironment.