Char67 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 I'm a newbie here and doing research on the SUV values but unable to understand what it means so hopefully will get answers here. My PET Scan says increased SUV values up to 4.8. Could someone possibly help understandi what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexieCat Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 It's a measure of the "uptake" of glucose at various locations in the body. Because cancer involves uncontrolled cell growth, tumors typically take in more glucose (to feed them) than non-cancerous tissues. There are some parts of the body (e.g., the urinary system) that naturally have high glucose uptake. And even in those tissues where the SUV is abnormally high, it doesn't mean for sure that it's cancer. Moreover, the precise amount of uptake doesn't tell you anything definitive about any cancer that might be there. At most, it's suspicious and one more bit of evidence that something might be cancerous. Here's a fairly informative article written for laypeople: https://www.docpanel.com/blog/post/understanding-your-fdg-pet-scan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouT Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Great answer Lexie... Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy M2 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Great article. Thanks, @LexieCat. It's interesting that my paralyzed left vocal cord had an increased SUV of 6.2 (from 4.8) in April, 6 months after a bulk Teflon injection. But as of this January, there was nothing. Plus post-radiation pneumonitis and inflammation caused an increase in SUV, but has since gone way down as all that damage has healed. So as the article says, you need a specialist to interpret these numbers. Reading PET scan reports without an oncologist's explanation can be scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexieCat Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Yup, things like inflammation can make spots light up, too. I had a couple of ridiculously high SUVs on mine--one area 27.8 and another 35.5. Yet they didn't seem to indicate the cancer was particularly aggressive in those areas. One was a lymph node that is now normal in appearance and the other was the main tumor site, which has responded very well to chemo/immunotherapy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char67 Posted March 11, 2021 Author Share Posted March 11, 2021 Appreciate your help LexieCat. You are very knowledgeable. The article did help understand SUV. Thanks for your wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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