title: Clinical utility of 18F-FDG PET for patients with salivary gland malignancies.
abstract: The clinical utility of 18F-FDG PET in evaluating salivary gland malignancies has not been well defined. We therefore evaluated the utility of 18F-FDG PET in management for patients with salivary gland cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four patients with newly diagnosed salivary gland cancers underwent CT and 18F-FDG PET before surgical resection with radiotherapy. The diagnostic accuracies of CT and 18F-FDG PET for detecting primary tumors and neck metastases were compared with a histopathologic reference. We determined the relationship between the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) of the tumor and clinicopathologic parameters such as sex, age, local tumor invasion, T and N categories, TNM stage, and histologic grade, as well as their associations with disease-free survival (DFS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  18F-FDG PET was more sensitive than CT for the detection of primary tumors (91.2% vs. 79.4%; P < 0.05), cervical metastases (80.5% vs. 56.1%; P < 0.05), and distant metastases in 2 patients at initial staging. High-grade malignancies had higher mean maximum SUVs than did low- and intermediate-grade malignancies (4.6 vs. 2.8; P = 0.011). T and N categories were independent determinants of DFS (P < 0.05), but the maximum SUV (4.0) was not. During a mean follow-up of 25.1 mo, 18F-FDG PET correctly diagnosed local-regional recurrences in 6 patients and new distant metastases in 9 patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that, in patients with salivary gland malignancies, 18F-FDG PET is clinically useful in initial staging, histologic grading, and monitoring after treatment but not in predicting patient survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. rohjl@amc.seoul.kr
authors.forename: Jong-Lyel
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: Chang Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Seung-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jae Seung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyung-Ja
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Soon Yuhl
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Sang Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18