Application of the alteration uptake ratio of 99m Tc-MIBI scintigraphy for evaluating the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in osteosarcoma patients

• Published in: Hellenic journal of nuclear medicine Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 55
• Main Authors: Huang, Zhongke, Lou, Cen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece 01.01.2018
• ISSN: 1790-5427

We aimed to semi-quantitatively evaluate using technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile ( Tc-MIBI) scintigraphy the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in osteosarcoma (OS) patients. A hundred and two patients with OS were retrospectively included in this study. All of them underwent Tc-MIBI scintigraphy before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Semi-quantitative parameters including the uptake ratio (UR) and alteration of uptake ratio (AUR) were calculated for each patient. According to tumor necrosis rate (TNR), patients were classified into three group: a) Poor response group (grade I, TNR: less than 50%), b) Partial response group (grade II, TNR: 50%-89%) and c) Good response group (grade III, TNR: greater than 90%). The linear regression analysis of the AUR versus TNR was carried out. Poor response, partial response and good response were found in 30, 52 and 20 patients, respectively. In the poor-response group the URpre and URpost were 1.68±0.44 and 1.83±0.71, respectively and the AUR was -0.02±0.33. In the partial-response group the URpre and URpost were 2.42±1.42 and 1.59±0.71, respectively and the AUR was 0.28±0.18. In the good-response group the URpre and URpost were 2.58±0.61 and 1.21±0.16, respectively and the AUR was 0.46±0.10. There was a statistically significant difference of the AUR between poor-response and partial-response groups (P<0.01) and also between the poor-response and good-response groups (P<0.01). The linear regression analysis of the AUR versus TNR which showed a significantly positive correlation (r=0.76). The AUR was significant after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the partial-response group and in the good-response group. Furthermore, it exhibited a positive correlation with TNR. All results indicated that Tc-MIBI scintigraphy can be used to evaluate neoadjuvant chemotherapy for OS patients.