PET in head and neck tumors

Sentinel Node Biopsy as Staging Tool in a Multimodality Treatment Approach to Cancer of the Oral Cavity and the Oropharynx

“…With respect to node classification, but also imaging of the primary cancer and distant metastases, [ 18 F]FDG-PET has proven to have high sensitivity and specificity in many tumor entities including SCC, which is the typical histology in cancer of the head and neck. 16 The high specificity of positron emission tomography (PET) concerning the neck of oral SCC patients is particularly important in preoperative diagnosis because patients with truly positive necks can be excluded and only patients with highly probable N0 necks are enrolled. 17 The limitation of PET lies at lymph node diameters of 5 to 6 mm.…”