Early prediction of survival following induction chemotherapy with DCF (docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil) using FDG PET/CT imaging in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Early therapeutic response demonstrated on FDG PET/CT after two cycles of induction chemotherapy with DCF in patients with inoperable stage III/IV HNSCC seems to be a predictive factor for EFS.

Early Response Monitoring with 18F-FDG PET and Cetuximab-F(ab′)2-SPECT After Radiotherapy of Human Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas in a Mouse Model

“…This is in line with our findings in which no significant differences were seen in 18 F-FDG uptake between controls and irradiated mice at 1, 7 and 14 d after irradiation. Additionally, 18 F-FDG uptake can be influenced by local inflammation, complicating differentiation between the (residual) tumor and surrounding tissues (31). SCCNij167 tumors had an overall higher SUV max than SCCNij202 tumors, even though SCCNIj167 tumors are generally smaller and have a longer volume doubling time (14).…”

“…2 and 3B). 18 F-FDG uptake (SUV mean and SUV max ) did not correlate to tumor volume or fEGFR (data not shown).…”

“…Unirradiated SCCNij167 had a higher SUV max than unirradiated SCCNij202 (P , 0.0001). Up to 14 d after irradiation, treatment did not significantly affect 18 F-FDG SUV max in SCCNij167 and SCCNij202 (Figs. 2 and 3B).…”

“…18 F-FDG PET/CT has become a useful tool for detection and staging in HNSCC (16). So far, clinical outcome and early therapeutic response have been related to 18 F-FDG PET/CT and more recently 18 F-39-deoxy-39-18 F-fluorothymidine and 18 F-fluromisonidazole for treatment with radiochemotherapy (17)(18)(19)(20), but little is known about prediction if radiotherapy is combined with EGFR inhibitors. Many possibilities have been investigated for facilitating imaging of EGFR by PET and SPECT (21) in search for prognostic and predictive markers, but it has not yet been proven clinically relevant.…”

Long-term Results of a Pilot Study Comparing FLT-PET and FDG-PET in the Evaluation of Response to Treatment in Advanced Head and Neck and Esophageal Malignancies

“…The limited number of patients in this study, coupled with the generally favorable PET responses to induction chemotherapy, precluded our ability to detect a correlation between PET changes and long-term oncologic outcomes. In contrast, several prior studies showed that post-induction FDG-PET responses correlated with subsequent PET responses and PFS [28][29][30]. The utility of FLT-PET in assessing responses after induction chemotherapy in HNSCC has only been evaluated by a small number of studies.…”