title: Positron emission tomography for basal cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the ability of fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to image basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mohs surgery practice in a tertiary university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six patients with BCC larger than 1.0 cm of the head and neck region were identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were imaged using FDG-PET before surgery. In 3 patients, PET imaging correlated well with the size and extent of the soft tissue invasion. Histologically, all 3 tumors were of the nodular subtype. The remaining 3 patients failed to demonstrate identifiable tumor activity on PET. Two of these 3 tumors were of the infiltrative histologic subtype, and 1 was of the nodular subtype. Perineural spread was detected by tissue biopsy in 1 infiltrative tumor, but not by FDG-PET imaging.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, FDG-PET imaging was able to image and identify BCC in the head and neck region in 3 of 6 patients. In some cases, anatomic accuracy and the extent of soft tissue invasion were observed. The histologic subtype of the BCC appears to affect the ability of FDG-PET detection, with the nodular histologic subtype more likely to test positive on PET. This is a preliminary study, and future investigation is needed to evaluate the role of PET imaging in the management of patients with BCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, MO 63104, USA. foskosw@slucare1.sluh.edu
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Fosko
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Val J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18