Contribution of ¹⁸Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography uptake and TTF-1 expression in the evaluation of the EGFR mutation in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of PET-CT scan for the prediction of EGFR mutation status and the contribution of TTF-1 expression to PET-CT scan.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 218 cases with a diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma between 2012-2014 which underwent EGFR analysis, TTF-1 and PET-CT before treatment.

Results: The EGFR mutation was present in 28.9% (n= 63) of cases. TTF-1 positivity was 66.9% (n= 105). Standardized uptake value (SUV max) was 16.7 ± 6.8 in EGFR mutant type, 13.8 ± 7.6 in cases having no EGFR mutations. According to our evaluations, high SUVmax is positively correlated with EGFR mutation status. TTF-1 expression in multivariate analysis strengthens the accuracy of detecting an EGFR mutation.

Conclusion: PET-CT FDG uptake may, together with TTF-1 expression, help diagnosis in lung adenocarcinoma cases when evaluating for EGFR mutation status.