The correlation of expression of VEGF and EGFR with SUV of 18FDG-PET-CT in non-small cell lung cancer

AIM OF THE STUDY To explore the correlation of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) of (18)FDG-PET-CT in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty patients received PET-CT imaging protocol first, and then all the patients underwent needle biopsy though CT guidance. The tumour tissue of each patient was taken from two biopsy areas: one area was SUVmax = 2.5-5, and the other was SUVmax > 5. Expression of VEGF and EGFR were detected and analysed by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS The expressions of both VEGF and EGFR had no statistically significant correlation with SUVmax in age, gender, pathology, or differentiation (p > 0.05). The expressions of both VEGF and EGFR had statistically significant correllation with SUVmax in tumour size and clinical stage (p < 0.05). SUVmax correlated positively with VEGF and EGFR expressions (r = 0.879, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS SUVmax correlated positively with expressions of VEGF and EGFR (r = 0.879, p = 0.000; r = 0.839, and p = 0.000, respectively). This study may provide guidance for radiotherapy of NSCLC.