title: Carcinoma of unknown primary in the head and neck: comparison between positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/CT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Comparison of the diagnostic validity of positron emission tomography (PET) alone with integrated PET and CT (PET/CT) in the search for occult primary tumors in patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) site in the head and neck.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine consecutive patients with clinical CUP were investigated with PET and 38 patients with PET/CT. After initial diagnostic panendoscopy and histological confirmation of the cervical lymph node metastasis, either PET or PET/CT scanning was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Integrated PET/CT had a significantly higher overall detection rate than dedicated PET alone (55.2% vs 30.8%; p = .039) and positive prediction rate (93.3% vs 46.1%; p = .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Integrated PET/CT showed to be superior to PET in the detection of the primary site of clinically occult tumors in CUP syndrome. However, a negative result should still be investigated further by means of panendoscopy with tonsillectomy and blind biopsies.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Keller
authors: Georgios
authors: G
authors: Psychogios
authors: Rainer
authors: R
authors: Linke
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Lell
authors: Torsten
authors: T
authors: Kuwert
authors: Heinrich
authors: H
authors: Iro
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Zenk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000175:diagnosis*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*