title: The role of FDG PET-CT in the therapeutic evaluation for HNSCC patients.
abstract: F-18 FDG PET/CT has been widely used to diagnose primary tumors and lymph node metastases and to evaluate the response of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) to therapy. The advantage of using PET/CT is that this combination allows metabolic information to be precisely overlapped with anatomical information, thereby improving the identification of sites with an abnormal accumulation of F-18 FDG. The role of FDG PET/CT in the therapeutic evaluation (such as in treatment planning, the therapeutic response, and the surveillance and examination of HNSCC patients) is discussed in this manuscript. When evaluating the post-treatment outcome via FDG PET/CT, it is important to exclude the post-treatment inflammation-related increase in glucose metabolism in lymph nodes, salivary gland, muscles, and soft tissues. The influence of inflammation can be eliminated if PET/CT is performed after 12 weeks, by which time post-treatment inflammation subsides. Further, FDG PET/CT affords a high negative predictive value. Based on the results of an FDG PET/CT test, some invasive tests that are performed to detect recurrence can be omitted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 645-8585, Japan. kawabe@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kawabe
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higashiyama
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kotani
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiomi
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose