Prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET in patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to assess whether tumor uptake of (18)F-FDG (FDG) expressed as the standardized uptake value (SUV) can be used to predict survival in patients with head and neck cancer. Furthermore, a prognostic maximum SUV was determined with univariate and bivariate analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Low SUVs (</= 7.0) predicted significantly higher rates of 2-year local control (p = 0.0067) and disease-free survival (p = 0.0051) as compared with high SUVs (> 7.0). In the Cox proportional hazards model, tumor SUV was a significant and independent predictor of local control (p = 0.022) and disease-free survival (p = 0.019). In addition, in the group of high SUV, high T stage was more associated with poorer outcome than low T stage (p = 0.0502). Therefore, patients with higher tumor FDG uptake should be considered for a more aggressive treatment approach.
Torizuka
Tatsuo
T
Positron Medical Center, Hamamatsu Medical Center, Hamamatsu, Japan. tatsuo@pmc.hmedc.or.jp
Tanizaki
Yasuo
Y
Kanno
Toshihiko
T
Futatsubashi
Masami
M
Naitou
Katsumi
K
Ueda
Yo
Y
Ouchi
Yasuomi
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18