Positron emission tomography with ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose to predict pathologic response after induction chemotherapy and definitive chemoradiotherapy in head and neck cancer

Abstract

FDG-PET imaging showed some correlation with pathologic response after ICT and CRT in patients with advanced SCCHN. The use of FDG-PET warrants further investigation in this setting.

Prediction of Disease-Free Survival in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck Using Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging

“…18 A decrease in FDG uptake from the metastatic node did not correlate with positive survival outcome in patients with HN-SCC. 12,13 Moreover, lower spatial resolution of images and problems with discriminating neoplastic processes from inflammation, reactive lymph nodes, obstructive glands, brown fat, or vascular abnormalities lead to false-positive SUVs from the nodal neck region, 14 limiting the use of FDG-PET in evaluating nodal masses. Therefore, alternative imaging methods that can evaluate nodal tumor physiology should be considered.…”

“…10 These studies imply that tumor vascularity may be an important predictor of local treatment response and disease control in HNSCC because elevated blood flow may permit improved delivery of therapeutic agents to the tumor. While other imaging modalities such as CT and PET have also been proposed for predicting prognosis and survival in patients with HNSCC, 6,[11][12][13] lower soft tissue contrast and exposure to radiation associated with these modalities 14 call for an alternate imaging technique. Since DCE-MRI provides high temporal-and spatial-resolution maps of tissue perfusion/permeability, we evaluated the potential of pretreatment K trans values from the metastatic lymph node in predicting disease-free survival (patients who survived a definite period of time without evidence of disease after chemoradiation therapy) in patients with HNSCC in this study.…”

The diagnostic and prognostic utility of positron emission tomography/computed tomography‐based follow‐up after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

“…Therefore, the specificity and false-positive rates should be considered critically in comparison with other studies that report only a single scan in a treated patient. 10,11,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] In a recent meta-analysis of studies investigating the effectiveness of a single PET scan after RT that included patients with suspected disease recurrence, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 94%, 82%, 75%, and 95%, respectively. 25 In our experience, false-positive findings in the head and neck remain an issue for PET or PET/CT in the followup care of patients with head and neck cancer.…”

Single‐cycle induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy or surgery in patients with head and neck cancer: What are the best predictors of remission and prognosis?

“…The ability of repetitive 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT studies examining changes in the standardized uptake value of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose to predict tumor remission has been shown for various other tumor entities [23][24][25] and in small series of patients with HNSCC. [26][27][28] Its predictive value for recurrence has also been demonstrated in parts. 20 Motivated by uncertainties surrounding the assessment of response to a single cycle of ICT, we comparatively analyzed the ability of 3 methods -endoscopy, CT, and 18 FDG-PET/CT -to assess the response to ICT.…”