The value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
tomography for prediction of treatment response in
gastrointestinal stromal tumors: a systematic review and metaanalysis
Background: Early detection of response to treatment is critically important in gastrointestinal
stromal tumors (GIST). Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis
assessed the value of 18f-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG–
PET) on prediction of therapeutic response of GIST patients to systemic treatments.
Methods: The literature search was conducted using PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane, and
Google Scholar databases, and review article references. Eligible articles were defined as
studies included confirmed GIST patients who underwent 18FDG–PET as well as assessing
the screening role of it.
Results: Finally, 21 relevant articles were included. The analysis showed the pooled sensitivity
and specificity of 18FDG–PET in evaluation of response to treatment of GIST patient
were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.85–0.94; I
2 = 52.59, P = 0.001) and 0.62 (95% CI: 0.49–0.75; I
2 = 69.7,
P = 0.001), respectively. In addition, the pooled prognostic odds ratio of 18FDG–PET for was
14.99 (95% CI, 6.42–34.99; I
2 = 100.0, P < 0.001). The Meta regression showed that sensitivity
of 18FDG-PET was higher if the sample size of study was equal or more than 30 cases
(sensitivity = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.89–0.97), when using PET/CT (sensitivity = 0.92; 95% CI:
0.89–0.97), and self-design criteria (sensitivity = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.87–1.0).
Conclusion: The present meta-analysis showed 18FDG–PET has a significant value in
predicting treatment response in GIST patients
