Integrative Analysis of 18F-FDG PET Radiomics and mRNA Expression in Recurrent/Metastatic Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study explored the relationship between mRNA expression profiles obtained through next-generation sequencing (NGS) and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET) texture analysis in patients with treatment-resistant oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) who were treated with molecular-targeted drugs. We analyzed the correlation between ¹⁸F-FDG PET texture features and NGS data in a small cohort of five patients with recurrent or metastatic OSCC who received molecular-targeted drugs after surgery. Patients were categorized into two groups based on treatment response: responders (n = 3) and non-responders (n = 2). To validate our findings, we examined transcriptomic data from 292 OSCC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

The gene ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing two (ASB2) was significantly overexpressed in non-responders and strongly correlated with specific PET radiomic features, including GLRLM_GLNU, GLRLM_RLNU, and GLZLM_GLNU (p < 0.05). High ASB2 expression was also associated with poor prognosis in OSCC patients (p < 0.05) and decreased overall survival, as shown by Kaplan–Meier analysis of the TCGA database (p = 0.017).

Integrating ASB2 expression data with ¹⁸F-FDG PET texture features could potentially improve the prediction of treatment outcomes in treatment-resistant OSCC patients undergoing molecular-targeted therapy.