PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Marcus, Charles
AU  - Wahl, Richard
AU  - Subramaniam, Rathan
TI  - The role of FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of patients with T1 and T2 (early stage) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
DP  - 2014 May 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 343--343
VI  - 55
IP  - supplement 1
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/55/supplement_1/343.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/55/supplement_1/343.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2014 May 01; 55
AB  - 343 Objectives There is limited literature evaluating the role of FDG PET/CT in patients with T1 and T2 (early stage) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumors. The objective of the study is to evaluate the value of FDG PET/CT in patients with T1 and T2 HNSCC who underwent a FDG PET/CT prior to treatment. Methods This is an institutional review board approved retrospective study at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The study included 173 biopsy-proven HNSCC patients who had a FDG PET/CT prior to treatment and had a T1 or T2 primary tumor. The median follow-up was 37 months. The PET/CT reports were used to classify the patients with those who had a positive finding for the primary tumor, right and left neck and distant metastases. Results Of the 173 patients, 134 were men and 39 were women (mean age: 58.7 ± 9.8 years). 112 (64.7%) patients had HNSCC involving the oropharynx, 15 (8.7%) patients oral cavity cancers, 31 (17.9%) patients with laryngeal cancers and 15 (8.7%) patients with cancers involving other sites. 61 (35.3%) patients had T1 cancers and 112 (64.7%) had T2 cancers. The FDG PET/CT identified unilateral neck node metastases in 104 (60.1%) patients, bilateral neck disease in 37 (21.4%) and distant metastases in 14 (8.1%) patients. Among the patients with T1 tumors (n=61), the PET/CT study identified unilateral neck node metastases in 33 (54.1%) patients, bilateral neck disease in 8 (13.1%) and distant metastases in 1 (1.6%) patient. In patients with T2 tumors (n=112), PET/CT identified unilateral neck disease in 71 (63.4%) patients, bilateral neck disease in 29 (25.9%) and distant metastases in 13 (11.6%) patients. The PET/CT resulted in a change in the clinical stage in 25 (14.5%) patients, upstaging 19 (76.0%) patients and down staging 6 (24.0%) patients. Conclusions PET/CT is valuable in appropriate staging of early-T1 and T2- head and neck squamous cell cancers.