Prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil: comparisons of volume-based metabolic parameters.
BACKGROUND
The prognostic significance of volume-based metabolic parameters measured by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT ((18) F-FDG PET/CT) is not established. We evaluated the prognostic value of metabolic parameters in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tonsil.


METHODS
We enrolled a total of 69 patients with SCC of the tonsil who underwent pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT. We measured maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and asymmetry indices (of SUV(max), MTV, and TLG). The prognostic significance of these parameters and clinical variables was assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.


RESULTS
Multivariate analyses with adjustments for age, sex, and American Joint Committee on Cancer stage showed that only TLG (hazard ratio = 1.020, 95% confidence interval 1.003-1.037, p = .023) was an independent predictive factor associated with decreased overall survival.


CONCLUSIONS
TLG is a significant independent metabolic prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with SCC of the tonsil.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seung Hwan
SH
Moon
Joon Young
JY
Choi
Hwan Joo
HJ
Lee
Young-Ik
YI
Son
Chung-Hwan
CH
Baek
Yong Chan
YC
Ahn
Keunchil
K
Park
Kyung-Han
KH
Lee
Byung-Tae
BT
Kim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014067:Tonsillar Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000532:radiotherapy
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18