Significance of baseline FDG-PET/CT scan as a method of staging regional lymph nodes in patients with operable distal oesophageal or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

Figures & data

Table 1. Basic patient and tumour characteristics.

	FDG avid RLN absent	FDG avid RLN present
Characteristics	N (%)	N (%)	p
Age	–	–	.068
Median	66	65	–
Range	38–84	40–80	–
Gender	–	–	.426
Male	213 (85.2)	148 (82.2)	–
Female	37 (14.8)	32 (17.8)	–
ECOG performance status	–	–	.006
0	112 (44.8)	56 (31.2)	–
1	134 (53.6)	116 (64.4)	–
2	4 (1.6)	8 (4.4)	–
Primary tumour location	–	–	.390
Distal oesophagus	77 (30.8)	48 (26.7)	–
GOJ	173 (69.2)	132 (73.3)
Clinical T stage	–	–	.001
2	69 (27.6)	22 (12.2)	–
3	165 (66.0)	141 (78.4)	–
4a	16 (6.4)	17 (9.4)	–
Clinical N stage	–	–	<.001
0	105 (42.0)	0 (0)	–
1	111 (44.4)	101 (56.1)	–
2	30 (12.0)	67 (37.2)	–
3	4 (1.6)	12 (6.7)	–
Clinical stage (AJCC8)	–	–	<.001
IIB	41 (16.4)	0 (0)	–
III	175 (70.0)	101 (56.1)	–
IVA	34 (13.6)	79 (43.9)	–
Primary tumour FDG uptake (SUVmax)	–	–	<.001
Median	8.7	11.3	–
Range	3–51.2	4.5–41.2	–
Total	250 (100)	180 (100)	–

AJCC8: American Joint Committee on Cancer staging, eighth edition; FDG: fluorodeoxy glucose; GOJ: gastroesophageal junction; PET: positron emission tomography; SUV: standardised uptake value.

Figure 1. Overall survival (OS) of patients with different clinical stages by AJCC8 (eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging).

Figure 2. Overall survival (OS) of patients with FDG avid and non-avid regional lymph nodes.

Figure 3. Multivariable analysis of baseline prognostic factors for overall survival and respective forest plots. CI, confidence interval; cN, clinical N stage; cT, clinical T stage; ECOG, eastern cooperative oncology group; FDG, fluorodeoxyglucose; HR, hazard ratio; LNs, lymph nodes; PS, performance status; RLN, regional lymph nodes; SUVmax, maximum standardised uptake value.

Figure 4. Allocation of patients in four prognostically relevant groups for overall survival by combining the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee for Cancer (AJCC8) clinical staging and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avidity of regional lymph nodes (RLN). CI, confidence intervals; HR, hazard ratio.

Figure 5. Overall survival (OS) of patients allocated in four different groups with distinct prognoses by combining clinical stage according to the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee for Cancer staging (AJCC8) and the presence or absence of FDG avid regional lymph nodes.

Figure 6. Postoperative overall survival (OS) of patients with FDG avid and non-avid regional lymph nodes.