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Evaluation of 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT/MRI with Histopathologic Correlation in Patients Undergoing Salvage Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

  • Head and Neck Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

18F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is a sensitive and specific method for detecting active residual disease after chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy, but few studies have accurately evaluated its diagnostic accuracy with histopathologic correlation. We therefore investigated the clinical utility of 18F-FDG PET/computed tomography (CT) in patients undergoing salvage surgery for residual head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) after primary nonsurgical treatments.

Methods

Thirty-nine patients who initially received chemotherapy (n = 23), radiotherapy (n = 3), or chemoradiotherapy (n = 13) were evaluated 8–28 weeks later by 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to salvage surgery to clear residual disease. These results were compared with those of histopathologic analysis of the primary tumor and neck dissection tissue samples.

Results

Of these 39 patients, 22 (56%) had residual primary tumor. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT for detecting primary tumors were 91, 65, and 79%, respectively. Of 56 dissected heminecks, 37 (66%) had residual metastatic lymph nodes. 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT/MRI had accuracies for positive heminecks of 91 and 75%, respectively (P = 0.004). On a cervical level-by-level-based analysis, 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT/MRI had accuracies of 89 and 78%, respectively (P < 0.001); 18F-FDG PET/CT had a specificity of 93% and a negative-predictive value of 92% for detection of positive levels.

Conclusions

18F-FDG PET/CT is superior to CT/MRI in detecting residual nodal disease in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients undergoing salvage surgery. Accurate preoperative diagnosis using 18F-FDG PET/CT may help to determine the extent of salvage surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Sang Yoon Kim MD, Jong Sook Yi MD, Seung-Ho Choi MD, Soon Yuhl Nam MD & Jong-Lyel Roh MD

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Jae Seung Kim MD

  3. Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Jeong Hyun Lee MD

  4. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Kyung-Ja Cho MD

  5. Department of Radiation Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Sang-wook Lee MD

  6. Department of Internal Medicine (Oncology), Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Sung-Bae Kim MD

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  1. Sang Yoon Kim MD
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Correspondence to Jong-Lyel Roh MD.

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Kim, S.Y., Kim, J.S., Yi, J.S. et al. Evaluation of 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT/MRI with Histopathologic Correlation in Patients Undergoing Salvage Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Ann Surg Oncol 18, 2579–2584 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1655-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1655-x

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