Genomic signature of the standardized uptake value in 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in breast cancer

The standardized uptake value (SUV), an indicator of the glucose uptake degree in 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), has been used as a prognostic factor in malignant tumors. We aimed to identify a signature reflecting prognostic SUV characteristics in breast cancer (BRC). Transcriptome profiling was performed to identify a signature associated with the SUV in BRC patients who underwent preoperative FDG-PET. We defined a signature consisting of 723 genes significantly correlated with the SUV (|r| > .35; P < .001). The patient subgroups classified by the signature were significantly similar to those classified by the SUV (odds ratio, 8.02; 95% CI, 2.45 to 29.3; P < 0.001). The SUV signature showed independent clinical utility for predicting BRC prognosis (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.42; P < 0.001). Integrative analysis demonstrated a significance of the signature in predicting the response to immunotherapy and revealed that a signaling axis defined by TP53-FOXM1 and its downstream effectors in glycolysis-gluconeogenesis, including LDHA, might be important mediators in the FDG-PET process. Our results reveal characteristics of glucose uptake captured by FDG-PET, supporting an understanding of glucose metabolism as well as poor prognosis in BRC patients with a high SUV. We prospectively collected tumor tissues from specimens of surgically resected breast cancer at the Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, between July 1997 and December 2007. A total of 301 patients with invasive BRC were enrolled for gene expression profiling. Among them, the standardized uptake values for 66 patients with breast cancer who underwent by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan were available.