Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) produces images that reflect the rate and distribution of biochemical and physiological processes in tissue in vivo. This has been observed with many types of neoplasm not evident when using such anatomical imaging techniques as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. We evaluated the feasibility of 2-18F-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) PET studies in diagnosing and assessing the effects of treatment on lesions of the tongue, maxillary sinus and nasopharynx. FDG-PET imaging was performed 45 times in 17 patients with tumors before treatment. Ten patients with malignant lesions also underwent imaging after treatment. The differential absorption ratio (DAR) of the isotope was calculated at 55 min and the time activity curve (TAC) was obtained by dynamic emission scans for 0–55 min following injection of FDG. FDG-PET images, DAR and TAC were evaluated in all lesions. Findings showed that FDG-PET images could be used to diagnose malignant tumors and evaluate treatment when the DAR was > 4.0 and TAC was steep upward. Images suggestive of benign lesions had low DAR values (< 4.0) and mildly upward or flat TACs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chaiken L, Rege SD, Hoh CK, et al (1993) Positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose to evaluate tumor response and control after radiation therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol 27:455–464
Fukuda F, Mathuxawa T, Abe Y, Endo S, Yamada K, Kubota K, Hathuzawa J, Sato T, Ito M, Takahashi T, Iwata R, Ido T (1982) Experimental study for cancer diagnosis with positronlabeled fluorinated glucose analog. Eur J Nucl Med 7: 294–297
Greven KM, Williams DW, Keyes JW, McGuirt WF, Williams NE, Randall NE, Raben M, Geisinger KR, Cappellari JO (1994) Positron emission tomography of patients with head and neck carcinoma before and after high dose irradiation. Cancer 74:1355–1359
Haberkom U, Strauss LG, Reisser C, Haag D, Dimitrakopoulou A, Ziegler S, Oberdorfer F, Rudat V, Kaick G (1991) Glucose uptake, perfusion, and cell proliferation in head and neck tumors: relation of positron emission tomography to flow cytometry. J Nucl Med 32: 1548–1555
Jabour BA, Choi Y, Hoh CK, Rege SD, Soong JC, Lufkin RB, Hanafee WN, Maddahi J, Chaiken L, Bailet J, Phelps ME, Hawkins RA, Abemeyor E (1993) Extracranial head and neck: PET imaging with 2 [F-18] fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose and MR imaging correlation. Radiology 186: 27–35
Kubota K, Matsuzawa T, Fujiwara T, Ito M, Hatazawa J, Ishihata K, Iwata R, Ido T (1990) Differential diagnosis of lung tumor with positron emission tomography: a prospective study. J Nucl Med 31: 1927–1933
Kubota K, Ishiwata K, Kubota R, Yamada S, Tada M, Sato T, Ido T (1991) Tracer feasibility for monitoring tumor radiotherapy: a quadruple tracer study with fluorine-l8-fluorodeoxyglucose or fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyuridine,l-[methyl-14C] methionine, [6-3H] thymidine, and gallium-67. J Nucl Med 32: 2118–2123
Kubota R, Yamada S, Kubota K, Ishikawa K, Tamahashi N, Ido T (1992) Intratumoral distribution of fluorine-l8-fluorodeoxy-glucose in vivo: high accumulation in macrophages and granulation tissues studied by microautoradiography. J Nucl Med 33: 1972–1980
McGuirt WF, Greven KM, Keyes JW, Williams DW, Watson NE, Geisinger KR, Cappellari JO (1995) Positron emission tomography in the evaluation of laryngeal carcinoma. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 104: 274–278
Rege SD, Chaiken L, Hoh CK, Choi Y, Lufkin R, Anzai Y, Juillan G, Maddashi J, Phelps ME, Hawkins RA (1993) Change induced by radiation therapy in FDG uptake in normal and malignant structures of the head and neck: quantitation with PET. Radiology 189: 807–812
Reisser C, Haberkorn U, Strauss LG (1993) The relevance of positron emission tomography for the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck tumors. J Otolaryngol 22: 231–237
Strauss LG, Conti PS (1991) The applications of PET in clinical oncology. J Nucl Med 32: 623–648
Wagner HN, Conti PS (1991) Advances in medical imaging for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Cancer 67: 1121–1128
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sakamoto, H., Nakai, Y., Ohashi, Y. et al. Positron emission tomographic imaging of head and neck lesions. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 254 (Suppl 1), S123–S126 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02439741
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02439741