Assessment of early response to imatinib 800 mg after 400 mg progression by ^sup 18^F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors

• Published in: Future oncology (London, England) Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 953 - 964
• Main Authors: Chacón, Matías, Eleta, Martín, Espindola, Adriel Rodríguez, Roca, Enrique, Méndez, Guillermo, Rojo, Sandra, Pupareli, Carmen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Future Medicine Ltd 01-03-2015
• Subjects: Cancer; Gastrointestinal cancer; Kinases; Medical imaging; Medical prognosis; Metabolism; Metastasis; Mutation; Oncology; Systematic review; Tomography; Tumors
• ISSN: 1479-6694; 1744-8301
• DOI: 10.2217/FON.14.292

Introduction: Imatinib is the standard first-line therapy for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET computed tomography (FDG PET/ CT) shows a faster response than computed tomography in nonpretreated patients. Patients & methods: After disease progression on imatinib 400 mg, 16 patients were exposed to 800 mg. Tumor response was evaluated by FDG PET/CT on days 7 and 37. Primary objective was to correlate early metabolic response (EMR) with progression-free survival (PFS). Results: EMR by FDG PET/CT scan was not predictive of PFS. Median PFS in these patients was 3 months. Overall survival was influenced by gastric primary site (p = 0.05). Conclusion: The assessment of EMR by FDG PET/CT in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor exposed to imatinib 800 mg was not predictive of PFS or overall survival.