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Influence of volumetric 4′-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine PET/CT parameters for prediction of the clinical outcome of head and neck cancer patients

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Abstract

Objective

This prospective study compared the value of pretreatment 4′-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine (11C-4DST) volumetric parameters and those of 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG) in predicting the clinical outcome in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods

Fifty patients with HNSCC underwent 11C-4DST PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT prior to anticancer therapy. 18F-FDG metabolic tumor volume (18F-FDG MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were calculated from 18F-FDG PET, and 11C-4DST MTV and total lesion proliferation (TLP) were calculated from 11C-4DST PET. All parameters were measured for the primary lesion and metastatic lymph nodes. Associations between clinical factors and PET/CT parameters and prognostic value were analyzed.

Results

Receiver-operating characteristic analysis revealed that MTV, TLG, and TLP acquired from the primary lesion and metastatic lymph nodes were good parameters for predicting disease relapse and death. The area under the curves (AUCs) ranged from 0.63 to 0.71 for 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters. The AUCs of 11C-4DST PET/CT parameters were larger than those of 18F-FDG (range 0.72–0.81). Univariate analysis revealed that individuals with tumors showing a high value for any PET/CT parameter were at a significantly increased risk of relapse. Upon multivariate analysis, 18F-FDG MTV, 11C-4DST MTV and 11C-4DST TLP were significant independent factors for relapse-free survival (P = 0.04, P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0005, respectively).

Conclusion

Pretreatment 11C-4DST PET/CT volume-based parameters can provide important prognostic information about patients with HNSCC.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (http://www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, 1750-1, Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa, Japan

    Hiroshi Hoshikawa, Terushige Mori, Satoshi Takahashi & Yohei Ouchi

  2. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan

    Yukito Maeda, Yuka Yamamoto & Yoshihiro Nishiyama

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  1. Hiroshi Hoshikawa
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  2. Terushige Mori
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  7. Yoshihiro Nishiyama
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Hoshikawa.

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All procedures 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.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Hoshikawa, H., Mori, T., Maeda, Y. et al. Influence of volumetric 4′-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine PET/CT parameters for prediction of the clinical outcome of head and neck cancer patients. Ann Nucl Med 31, 63–70 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-016-1131-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-016-1131-6

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