The role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in initial staging and re-staging of head and neck cancer

Abstract

The aim of this study is to have a solid basis for the effectiveness of the 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging technique, which has known advantages for patients with head and neck cancers during staging and restaging prior to treatment and to compare this method with the corresponding clinical and radiological methods.A total of 139 patients with squamous cell head and neck carcinoma underwent PET/CT imaging. A total of 146 PET/CT imaging was performed in all patients. PET/CT imaging performed for staging and restaging in 36 and 103 patients, respectively. At least one conventional imaging (CI) as CT and/or MRI was performed for each one of the total patients. PET/CT studies revealed 66 true positive, 72 true negative, 4 false positive and 4 false negative results whereas the same values for CI were 65, 64, 4 and 6, respectively.When all studies were analyzed on the basis of lesion for PET/CT, specificity was 94.7%, and sensitivity being 94.2%, where as corresponding values for conventional imaging methods were found 94.1% and 91.5% respectively. Recurrent lesions have been detected with PET/CT and treatment management was changed in 29 of 139 patients.FDG-PET/CT improves the diagnostic accuracy in head and neck cancer patients.

The impact of multimodality integrated positron emission tomography-computed tomography on improving the staging and management of head and neck malignancy: a cross- sectional study

“…A list of the primary sites of tumors is shown in Through 18 F-FDG PET/CT, it was found that there were 27 true positive cases, one false positive, one false negative case and one true negative case. Three patients who were suspected of having benign lesions following a conventional clinical assessment were proven to be malignant cases after histopathological examination and 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Two of these patients were initially diagnosed through conventional staging as having a thyroglossal cyst, but malignancy was proven through 18 F-FDG PET/CT.…”

“…Three patients who were suspected of having benign lesions following a conventional clinical assessment were proven to be malignant cases after histopathological examination and 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Two of these patients were initially diagnosed through conventional staging as having a thyroglossal cyst, but malignancy was proven through 18 F-FDG PET/CT. This was subsequently confirmed to be papillary carcinoma, by means of histopathological examination.…”

“…This was subsequently confirmed to be papillary carcinoma, by means of histopathological examination. One of our patients initially presented with clinical and CECT features suggestive of mastoiditis and later developed widespread lesions over various sites that were positive through 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Histopathological examination confirmed this case as metastatic adenocarcinoma.…”

“…Histopathological examination confirmed this case as metastatic adenocarcinoma. The false positive case was a patient with a parotid lesion that was positive through 18 F-FDG PET/CT, but histopathological examination revealed this to be oncocytoma.…”

“…All the patients underwent CECT and whole body 18 F-FDG PET/CT examinations at the hospital's center for diagnostic nuclear imaging, using a standard protocol for image acquisition. Staging of the disease was done based on the 7 th edition of the tumor, node and metastasis (TNM) staging system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) after use of both imaging modalities.…”