• Sheng-Chieh Chan, Hung-Ming Wang, Tzu-Chen Yen, Chien-Yu Lin, Shy-Chyi Chin, Chun-Ta Liao, Yau-Yau Wai, Jiun-Jie Wang, and Shu-Hang Ng.
• Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging. 2011 Sep 1; 38 (9): 1607-19.

PurposeThe aim of this prospective study was to compare the diagnostic value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT and 3.0-T whole-body MRI (WB-MRI) for the assessment of distant metastases and second primary cancer (SPC) in patients with untreated oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OHSCC).MethodsA total of 103 patients were enrolled. All participants underwent 3.0-T WB-MRI and (18)F-FDG PET/CT. The diagnostic capabilities of the two imaging modalities were compared using the area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve. Histology and follow-up data were used as the reference standard.ResultsOf the 103 patients, 18 (17.5%) were found to have either distant metastases or SPC. A total of 21 sites were involved. On a lesion-based analysis, (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed a trend toward a higher sensitivity than WB-MRI (81.0% vs. 61.9%, P = 0.125). The area under the curve (AUC) for PET/CT was also higher than for WB-MRI, although not significantly so (0.932 vs. 0.866, P = 0.189). On a patient-based analysis, the sensitivity of WB-MRI was lower than that of PET/CT (66.7% vs. 83.3%, P = 0.625). In terms of diagnostic capability, the AUC was higher for PET/CT than WB-MRI (0.886 vs. 0.813, P = 0.355). The maximal SUV of the regional lymph nodes (SUVn) above the median value (8.7 g/ml) was significantly associated with the occurrence of distant metastasis (P = 0.026).Conclusion(18)F-FDG PET/CT showed a consistent trend toward higher sensitivity and diagnostic capability than 3.0-Tesla WB-MRI for the detection of distant metastases and SPCs in patients with untreated OHSCC. Our data also suggest that SUVn assessed by PET/CT can provide additional information for the prediction of distant metastases.

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