Occult squamous cell carcinoma of the uvula detected by F-18 FDG PET/CT in a case of carcinoma of unknown primary in the head and neck.
Incidence of unknown primary head/neck tumors with metastatic cervical lymphadenopathy at time of diagnosis is approximately 2% to 9%. Detecting site of original disease is challenging. We present a 75-year-old woman with bulky unilateral level 2 and 3 lymphadenopathy. Clinical examination and computed tomography (CT) did not reveal detectable abnormalities except neck-node metastases; biopsy indicated metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging was performed to detect the primary tumor site, which revealed a small metabolically-avid lesion in uvula, biopsy demonstrated SCC, the origin of metastatic disease. F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging of unknown primary head/neck tumors can have positive impact in identifying small occult primary tumor foci.
Salem
Shahenda
S
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kasr El-Aini Hospital, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Patel
Neva H
NH
Barwick
Tara
T
Al-Nahhas
Adil
A
Howard
David J
DJ
Zerizer
Imene
I
Win
Zarni
Z
D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary*; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014609:Uvula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18