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Prognostic value of preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

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Abstract

18F-FDG PET/CT is clinically useful in the initial staging and follow-up of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We studied the potential prognostic significance of preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT in HNSCC. The medical records of 294 patients who underwent preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT for HNSCC were retrospectively reviewed. The median SUVmax of the primary lesions (SUVmax-p) and cervical lymph nodes (SUVmax-n) was 7.98 ± 5.04 (range 1.2–28.7) and 3.34 ± 3.70 (range 1.0–20.4), respectively. There was a significant difference between with and without recurrence in SUVmax-p (11.14 ± 5.36 vs. 6.78 ± 4.35, p < 0.001) and SUVmax-n (5.60 ± 4.22 vs. 1.75 ± 1.46, p < 0.001). The cut-off values of SUVmax-p and SUVmax-n in the context of recurrence and cancer-related death were 8.5 and 3.5. The 5-year disease-free survival of patients with SUVmax-p < 8.5 and SUVmax-n < 3.5 was 79 and 79 %, respectively, whereas that of patients with SUVmax-p ≥ 8.5 and SUVmax-n ≥ 3.5 was 39 and 30 %, respectively. Multivariate analysis confirmed the significant association between 5-year disease-free survival and SUVmax-p ≥ 8.5 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.68, p < 0.001) and SUVmax-n ≥ 3.5 (HR 2.29, p = 0.007). Furthermore, SUVmax-p ≥ 8.5 (HR 3.20, p = 0.012) and SUVmax-n ≥ 3.5 (HR 2.14, p < 0.001) were associated with 5-year overall survival. 18F-FDG PET/CT cut-off values of SUVmax-p ≥ 8.5 or SUVmax-n ≥ 3.5 are associated with a recurrence and survival in HNSCC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpodong Seochogu, Seoul, 137-040, Republic of Korea

    Young-Hoon Joo, Kwang-Jae Cho, Jun-Ook Park, In-Chul Nam, Chung-Soo Kim & Min-Sik Kim

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Ie-Ryung Yoo

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  1. Young-Hoon Joo
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  2. Ie-Ryung Yoo
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  4. Jun-Ook Park
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  5. In-Chul Nam
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  6. Chung-Soo Kim
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Joo, YH., Yoo, IR., Cho, KJ. et al. Prognostic value of preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 271, 1685–1691 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-013-2605-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-013-2605-y

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