Prognostic role of baseline ¹⁸F‐FDG pet/CT in squamous cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinuses

Abstract

Background To retrospectively investigate the prognostic role of baseline 18F‐FDG PET/CT in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the paranasal sinuses. Methods Clinical features and PET/CT semiquantitative parameters of 49 patients were collected. Anova and Kruskall–Wallis tests were used to assess the relationship between these parameters. Kaplan–Meier, univariate, and multivariate analysis were performed to search for independent prognostic factors for progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results Mean PFS was 29.95 months (SD 29.36) with relapse/progression of disease occurring in 18 patients; mean OS was 33.40 (SD 27.78) months with death occurring in 15 patients. Presence of nodal metastasis (14 subjects) was correlated with standardize uptake value (SUV) max, SUVmean, SUV/blood‐pool ratio, SUV/liver ratio, metabolic tumor volume, and total lesion glycolysis. SUVmax, SUVmean, and presence of nodal metastasis resulted as independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusion 18F‐FDG PET/CT semiquantitative parameters confirmed their prognostic role for SCC of paranasal sinuses.