Correlation between baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT features and pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early triple negative breast cancer

Abstract

Abstract Aim of the study To evaluate correlation between metabolic and textural parameters on baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT and pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Methods All consecutive non-metastatic TNBC women treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by breast surgery who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT examination at diagnosis between 2012 and 2018 were retrospectively included. Metabolic parameters (SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak, MTV, TLG) of the primary tumour and lymph nodes, and textural features (entropy, homogeneity, SRE, LRE, LGZE, HGZE) of the primary tumour were collected. Pathological response was defined according to Sataloff classification. Results Seventy-four patients were enrolled. In univariate analysis, metabolic and textural features of the primary breast lesion or metabolic parameters of regional lymph nodes were not predictive of pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion Metabolic and textural features of baseline PET/CT do not seem to predict pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-metastatic triple negative breast cancer.