[18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and glucose-transporter type 1 expression in untreated primary small bowel adenocarcinoma.

Background: Literature reporting [18F]fluorodexoyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) of small bowel adenocarcinoma, a rare tumor, is sparse. To assess FDG uptake in small bowel adenocarcinoma, we retrospectively analyzed a large, single-center database and determined the expression of glucose-transporter type 1 (GLUT-1).

Methods: Screening of PET datasets in the database (N.=28,961 scans) for untreated histologically-confirmed primary small bowel adenocarcinoma revealed evaluable PET datasets for eight patients. Maximum and peak standardized uptake values (SUVmax and SUVpeak, respectively) were calculated via volume-of-interest (VOI) analysis. Additionally, GLUT-1 expression on tumor specimens was prospectively immunohistochemically assessed.

Results: All primary tumors showed high FDG uptake: mean SUVmax was 9.5±2.6 (range: 5.0-13.0) and SUVpeak, 8.1±2.3 (range: 3.9-10.7). Corresponding biopsy specimens (N.=7) demonstrated high GLUT-1 expression.

Conclusions: Primary small bowel adenocarcinomas have a high GLUT-1 expression. Tumor lesions consistently demonstrated high FDG uptake pre-treatment, suggesting FDG-PET utility in staging and follow-up of these tumors.