Yamagishi Y, Yamasaki T, Ishida J, et al. - Given the significance of ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography fusion imaging (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) as a diagnostic tool in breast cancer, researchers here examined the utility of maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of primary tumors in predicting sentinel node (SN) and non-SN metastasis in clinically node-negative (cN0) patients. They assessed ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images obtained from 414 cN0 patients. Further, they evaluated SUVmax at 60 min (SUVmax1), SUVmax at 120 min (SUVmax2), percent change between SUVmax1 and SUVmax2 (ΔSUVmax%), SN metastasis foci maximum size (SN meta size), and ratio of metastatic SNs to total SNs or SN ratio (SNR). The analysis revealed a significant correlation of all SUV parameters with pathological T factor (pT), nuclear grade, lymphatic invasion (Ly), and Ki-67 labeling index. The multivariate analysis revealed the independent predictive value of pT and Ly for SN metastasis. In SN meta-positive cases, univariate analyses suggested SN meta size, SNR, and ΔSUVmax% as predictors for non-SN metastasis, and multivariate analysis suggested the former two as independent predictors. They identified an independent predictive value of the combination of SUVmax2 and ΔSUVmax% for non-SN metastasis and further, there was an association of this combination with the prediction of non-SN metastasis negative status with high probability (92.3%).