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Positron Emission Tomography in Head and Neck Cancer

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Head and Neck Cancer Imaging

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

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Abstract

PET imaging complements CT and MRI in the staging process of head and neck malignancies. It has been shown to be in particular helpful in detection of early nodal metastasis, distant metastasis, and unknown primary tumors leading to change in TNM classification in up to 20% of patients. Tumor stage and CT tumor volumes have been well-established variables in the stratification process of patients into favorable and unfavorable treatment groups. PET imaging with its ability to capture biological activity and areas of hypoxia within tumors adds other important variables to consider with high FDG activities and hypoxia representing unfavorable risk factors. Utilization of FDG activity or hypoxia tumor maps facilitates more individualized treatment planning with the ability to deliver higher radiation doses to unfavorable tumor areas. Post treatment, PET imaging can help to decide if lymph node dissection is needed and to detect persistent or recurrent tumors in particular when significant alterations of the soft tissues planes are present. The strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of PET imaging prior, during, and post treatment will be discussed in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Administration and University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Ilona M. Schmalfuss

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  1. Ilona M. Schmalfuss
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Correspondence to Ilona M. Schmalfuss .

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  1. Department of Radiology, KU Leuven - University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Robert Hermans

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Schmalfuss, I.M. (2020). Positron Emission Tomography in Head and Neck Cancer. In: Hermans, R. (eds) Head and Neck Cancer Imaging. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2020_233

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2020_233

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-64734-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-64735-3

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