Clinical nuclear medicine
-
Clinical nuclear medicine · Apr 2013
Can (18)F-FDG PET/CT reliably assess response to primary treatment of head and neck cancer?
Where chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone with curative intent is used as the primary treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancers, salvage surgery may offer a second chance of cure in the face of recurrent or residual disease. Early detection of recurrent or residual disease is therefore the key to facilitating timely and efficacious salvage surgery. CT and MRI can be difficult to interpret in the posttreatment neck. Functional imaging, such as F-FDG PET/CT, has the potential to improve restaging accuracy. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of F-FDG PET/CT performed 3 months following primary treatment of head and neck cancer. ⋯ F-FDG PET/CT is an accurate method for assessing response after primary locally advanced head and neck cancer treatment. Although false-positive scans are rare, a few patients will have a relapse after a negative scan, and so continued close follow-up is required.