title: Diagnosis of Bilateral Tonsil Cancers via Staging PET/CT: Case Report and Review.
abstract: Diagnostic workup of metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary site has traditionally included CT and/or MRI imaging and endoscopic biopsies. Routine bilateral tonsillectomy is highly controversial and the role of PET/CT is evolving, both for identification of potential primary sites and the detection of distant metastases. We report a case of cervical nodal metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma from an unknown primary site, in which dual-modality PET/CT led to the unexpected diagnosis of synchronous bilateral tonsillar cancers. In addition, PET/CT correctly distinguished pulmonary sarcoidosis from metastatic disease in this patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, 1600 Divisadero Street, P.O. Box 1708, Suite H-1031, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mannina
authors.forename: Sunanda M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pejavar
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Glastonbury
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Zante
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sue S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yom