ArticleMolecular imaging and biology2026
Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue FDG Uptake is Associated with Systemic Inflammatory Indices Independent of Primary-Tumor Metabolic Burden in Breast Cancer.
Article in Molecular imaging and biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAdipose tissue may contribute to systemic inflammation in breast cancer. This study evaluated whether visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) uptakes on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) are associated with inflammatory indices after adjustment for PET-derived tumor metabolic burden and whether metastatic status modifies these associations. MATERIALS AND
methodsIn this retrospective single-center cohort (n = 358) undergoing baseline [18F]FDG PET/CT, metastatic status was defined using an internal three-level clinical stage grouping: early-stage or locally advanced disease was classified as M0 and metastatic disease was classified as MET. VAT and SAT FDG uptakes were quantified as z-scored mean standardized uptake values normalized to lean body mass (SULmean) using the James lean body mass equation. Inflammatory indices from complete blood counts were log-transformed. Prespecified linear regression models with heteroskedasticity-consistent type 3 (HC3) robust standard errors were adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, stage, molecular subtype, and PET-derived primary-tumor metabolic burden metrics. Effect modification was tested via exposure × MET interaction. Sensitivity analyses used total-body tumor burden metrics in MET and recalculated SUL using the Janmahasatian lean body mass equation; overall survival (OS) was explored with Cox models.
resultsOf 358 patients, 284 (79.3%) were M0 and 74 (20.7%) were MET. In M0 (complete-case n = 267), higher SAT uptake was independently associated with higher log-transformed neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (log(NLR)) (β = 0.0798; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0130-0.1466; p = 0.019). In pooled interaction models (n = 323), SAT remained associated with log(NLR) (β = 0.0892; 95% CI 0.0196-0.1588; p = 0.012; ≈9% higher NLR per 1-standard deviation (SD)), with no evidence of effect modification by metastatic status (SAT × MET interaction p = 0.594). Results were consistent after total-body tumor-burden adjustment in MET and after recalculation of SUL using the Janmahasatian lean body mass equation. SAT was not significantly associated with OS (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.086; 95% CI 0.864-1.364; p = 0.481; n = 346).
conclusionsHigher SAT FDG uptake was modestly associated with higher NLR independent of tumor metabolic burden, with no evidence of heterogeneity by metastatic status. These findings suggest a potential tissue-specific imaging correlate of host inflammatory phenotype rather than a stand-alone clinical biomarker. Sensitivity and survival analyses remain hypothesis-generating and require external validation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42681307What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.