Preoperative evaluation of patients with primary head and neck cancer using dual-head 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

To evaluate the value of 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in primary head and neck cancer.

Head and neck carcinomas tend to metastasize to regional lymph nodes rather than to spread hematogenously. With nodal metastases, cure rates decrease by approximately 50%. Moreover, in approximately 3% of the patients, a second primary tumor is found at initial presentation.

Fifty-four consecutive patients (31 men and 23 women; mean age 60 years, range 34-81 years) with previously untreated squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity or oropharynx were studied. Before surgery and within a period of 3 weeks, clinical examination, chest x-ray, computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography with fine-needle aspiration cytology (US/ FNAC), and FDG-PET were performed. All study results were scored per neck side and were also classified as 0 (no metastases), 1 (single metastasis), or 2 (multiple metastases).

The sensitivity for the detection of lymph node metastases per neck side was 96%, 85%, and 64% for FDG-PET, CT, and US/FNAC, respectively. The specificity was 90%, 86%, and 100% for FDG-PET, CT, and US/FNAC, respectively. In terms of the classification, FDG-PET showed the best correlation with the histologic data. Finally, in nine patients (17%), a second primary tumor was detected by FDG-PET and confirmed by histologic evaluation.

Because of the high prevalence of second primary tumors detected by FDG-PET and the decreased error rate in the assessment of lymph node involvement compared with CT and US, FDG-PET should be routinely performed in patients with primary head and neck cancer.