Visualization of small glottic laryngeal cancer using methyl-labeled 11C-methionine positron emission tomography

Despite abundant literature on the use of PET in head and neck cancer, a little is known about the visualization of small laryngeal cancer. Moreover, most literature deals with the radiopharmaceutical (18)F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG), whereas only a few papers address the use of (11)C labeled amino acids. This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of (11)C-labeled methionine in visualizing small laryngeal cancer. Ten patients with a de novo small laryngeal cancer (7 T1, 3 T2) underwent a MET PET at least 3 weeks after biopsy but prior to further treatment. Static scans were made in 'whole body' mode, covering the head from the external auditory meatus downwards to the whole thorax. The resulting images were judged by experienced specialists in nuclear medicine, who assessed the relative visibility of each tumor on a 3-point scale. Nine tumors were visualized (5 clearly, 4 moderately). One (T1) was not visualized. Small laryngeal cancer can be visualized with (11)C-methionine PET.