Open AccessFeasibility and robustness of dynamic 18F-FET PET based tracer kinetic models applied to patients with recurrent high-grade glioma prior to carbon ion irradiation
Author(s) -
Charlotte Debus,
Ali AfsharOromieh,
Ralf Floca,
Michael Ingrisch,
Maximilian Knoll,
Jürgen Debus,
Uwe Haberkorn,
Amir Abdollahi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-018-33034-5
Subject(s) - robustness (evolution) , glioma , tracer , irradiation , nuclear medicine , pet imaging , compartment (ship) , computer science , kinetic energy , ion , biological system , positron emission tomography , chemistry , medicine , physics , cancer research , biology , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , geology , nuclear physics , biochemistry , oceanography , gene
The aim of this study was to analyze the robustness and diagnostic value of different compartment models for dynamic 18 F-FET PET in recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG). Dynamic 18 F-FET PET data of patients with recurrent WHO grade III (n:7) and WHO grade IV (n: 9) tumors undergoing re-irradiation with carbon ions were analyzed by voxelwise fitting of the time-activity curves with a simplified and an extended one-tissue compartment model (1TCM) and a two-tissue compartment model (2TCM), respectively. A simulation study was conducted to assess robustness and precision of the 2TCM. Parameter maps showed enhanced detail on tumor substructure. Neglecting the blood volume V B in the 1TCM yields insufficient results. Parameter K 1 from both 1TCM and 2TCM showed correlation with overall patient survival after carbon ion irradiation (p = 0.043 and 0.036, respectively). The 2TCM yields realistic estimates for tumor blood volume, which was found to be significantly higher in WHO IV compared to WHO III (p = 0.031). Simulations on the 2TCM showed that K 1 yields good accuracy and robustness while k 2 showed lowest stability of all parameters. The 1TCM provides the best compromise between parameter stability and model accuracy; however application of the 2TCM is still feasible and provides a more accurate representation of tracer-kinetics at the cost of reduced robustness. Detailed tracer kinetic analysis of 18 F-FET PET with compartment models holds valuable information on tumor substructures and provides additional diagnostic and prognostic value.