Abstract
Aim
To analyze the impact of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT (PET/CT) in the radiotherapy (RT) planning strategy in HNC, correlating CT-scan and PET/CT performances.
Materials and methods
Inclusion criteria were: age >18 years old, histologically proven head and neck cancer (HNC), patients candidate to definitive RT ± chemotherapy, stage of disease by means of PET/TC and CT-scan performed at our Cancer Care Center.
Results
Sixty patients were analyzed. The following primary tumor sites were investigated: nasopharynx (13%), oropharynx (42%), oral cavity (32%) and larynx non-glottic (13%). Globally, PET/CT findings caused changes on nodal radiation treatment volumes in 10% of all the population of study. Specifically, in 5 cases out of 19 oral cavity tumors (26%), PET/CT detected neck-nodes positive (not detected at CT-scan). These findings have allowed to change the patients management, including PET/CT neck-nodes positive in the high-risk RT volumes.
Conclusion
In the RT planning strategy, the present findings support the use of PET/CT to improve upfront regional staging of HNC disease, particularly for oral cavity tumors. Further investigations are advocated to evaluate if this strategy could impact on long-term outcomes in terms of local control and overall survival.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Mazzola, R., Alongi, P., Ricchetti, F. et al. 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT in locally advanced head and neck cancer can influence the stage migration and nodal radiation treatment volumes. Radiol med 122, 952–959 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0804-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0804-0