title: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and MRI in the follow-up of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: We evaluated the diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT and MRI for the assessment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) relapse. Since early treatment might prevent inoperable relapse, we also evaluated THE performance of early unenhanced (18)F-FDG PET/CT in residual tumor detection. The study was prospectively performed on 32 patients who underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT and MRI before treatment and at 4 and 12 months after treatment. (18)F-FDG PET/CT was also performed 2 weeks after the end of radiotherapy. Histopathology or a minimum of 18 months follow-up were used as gold standard. Before treatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT and MRI detected all primary tumors except for two limited vocal fold lesions (sensitivity 94%). MRI was more sensitive than (18)F-FDG PET/CT for the detection of local extension sites (sensitivity 75 vs 58%), but at the cost of a higher rate of false positive results (positive predictive value 74 vs 86%). For relapse detection at 4 months, sensitivity was significantly higher for (18)F-FDG PET/CT (92%) than for MRI (70%), but the diagnostic performances were not significantly different at 12 months. For the detection of residual malignant tissue 2 weeks post-radiotherapy, sensitivity and specificity of (18)F-FDG PET/CT were respectively 86 and 85% (SUV cut-off value 5.8). (18)F-FDG PET/CT is effective in the differentiation between residual tumor and radiation-induced changes, as early as 2 weeks after treatment of a primary HNSCC. For follow-up, performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT and MRI are similar except for a higher sensitivity of (18)F-FDG PET/CT at 4 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. rosemaryam_ghanooni@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghanooni
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Delpierre
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magremanne
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vervaet
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dumarey
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Remmelink
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassid
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18