Abstract
The uptake of Fluorine-18 fluoro-deoxy-glucose (18F-FDG) in tumors is assessed using the Standardized Uptake Values (SUVs). These values are usually normalized for the body weight of the patients (SUVbw). However, reported literature revealed an overestimation of uptake in obese patients who suffer from higher body fat content with low uptake of the 18F-FDG. Normalization of 18F-FDG uptake using body surface area (SUVbsa) may present a solution to overestimating uptake. The current study aims to evaluate uptake values of FDG in the tumor versus liver using two standardizing parameters: weight and area. Data for liver and tumor uptake were collected from 40 patients who underwent FDG-PET scans. Regarding uptake for the liver, the standardization using body weight, SUVbw, was calculated as tissue concentration over activity injected per body weight. Using surface area, SUVbsa used activity injected per surface area rather than weigh in the denominator. The correlation was performed to determine the association between the factors of age, body mass index (BMI), and liver SUVmax. The SUVbsa ranged between 0.79 and 5.8, and SUVbw ranged between 3.11 and 28.36. The range, as well as the standard deviation, were by far more in SUVbw than SUVbsa and the independence of the values on the size of patients proves that the latter is a preferable standardization method.
•The uptake of 18F-FDG in tumors is assessed using the Standardized Uptake Values (SUVs).•Data for uptake in the liver and tumour were collected from 40 patients underwent FDG-PET scans.•Standardization using surface area, SUVbsa used activity injected per surface area rather than weigh in the denominator.•Normalization of 18F-FDG uptake using SUVbsa present a solution to the overestimation of uptake.