18-FDG-PET Imaging in Head and Neck Cancer: Current Application

PET imaging plays a vital role in the initial staging and post-treatment surveillance of patients with head and neck cancer. Although fluoro-d-glucose-PET remains the workhorse of PET imaging, novel tracers promise in being able to improve staging accuracy, refine radiation planning, and also provide tissue-specific diagnoses. Response assessment on PET may be accomplished using qualitative methods and by a variety of quantitative methods that have been validated in clinical trials. Simultaneous PET-MR is a promising technique, the implementation of which faces obstacles primarily related to cost, operation, availability, and lack of standardization of imaging techniques.