Bulent Koca, Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey
Murat Yildirim, Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey
Ali Ihsan Saglam, Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey
Ugur Ozsoy, Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey
Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) values of breast mass and axilla metastatic lymph nodes are effective independent predictive factors for breast and axillary pathological complete response (PCR) before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Methods: Factors investigated in predicting were age, type of pathology, tumor size, number of axillary pathological lymph nodes, hormone receptor (HR) positivity, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positivity, triple negativity, Ki-67 level, multifocality, SUVmax of breast and axillary SUVmax. Results: Based on regression analysis, tumor size, HR positivity, Ki-67 level, HER2 positivity, and breast SUVmax were independent predictive factors for PCR of breast after NAC, while HR positivity, Ki-67 level ≥ 14, multifocality, and breast SUVmax were independent predictive factors for axillary PCR after NAC. Conclusions: Breast SUVmax value before NAC is an independent predictive factor for breast and axillary PCR.
Keywords: Breast cancer. 18F-FDG PET/CT. Pathological complete response.