title: In vivo spatial correlation between (18)F-BPA and (18)F-FDG uptakes in head and neck cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Borono-2-(18)F-fluoro-phenylalanine ((18)F-BPA) has been used to estimate the therapeutic effects of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), while (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) is the most commonly used positron emission tomography (PET) radiopharmaceutical in a routine clinical use. The aim of the present study was to evaluate spatial correlation between (18)F-BPA and (18)F-FDG uptakes using a deformable image registration-based technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten patients with head and neck cancer were recruited from January 2014 to December 2014. All patients underwent whole-body (18)F-BPA PET/computed tomography (CT) and (18)F-FDG PET/CT within a 2-week period. For each patient, (18)F-BPA PET/CT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT images were aligned based on a deformable image registration framework. The voxel-by-voxel spatial correlation of standardized uptake value (SUV) within the tumor was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our image processing framework achieved accurate and validated registration results for each PET/CT image. In 9/10 patients, the spatial distribution of SUVs between (18)F-BPA and (18)F-FDG showed a significant, positive correlation in the tumor volume.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deformable image registration-based voxel-wise analysis demonstrated a spatial correlation between (18)F-BPA and (18)F-FDG uptakes in the head and neck cancer. A tumor sub-volume with a high (18)F-FDG uptake may predict high accumulation of (18)F-BPA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. Electronic address: kazumkob@ncc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wakita
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Rei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Umezawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Kana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Igaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shigematsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Itami
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D000072078:Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: BNCT; BPA; Deformable registration; FDG; Head and neck cancer; PET/CT