Abstract
Background: Overview of clinical impact
of positron emission tomography-computed
tomography (PET-CT) scans in patients with head
and neck carcinomas at our center. Methods:
Retrospective review of posttreatment
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET-CT scans in
patients with head and neck carcinomas with risk
of residual disease. Clinical outcome served as
the reference standard. Results: This study
included 93 patients (65.6% males, mean age: 48.8
years ± 17.2 standard deviation) with squamous
cell carcinoma as most frequent histopathology
(91.4%). PET-CT scans were performed on average 6
months posttreatment. Diagnostic accuracy,
positive predictive value, and negative predictive
value of PET-CT for disease were found to be 88%,
88%, and 92%, respectively. A median follow-up of
24 months was available for 91 patients.
Kaplan–Meier curves showed significantly higher
disease-free survival with negative PET-CT as
compared to positive PET-CT (P = 0.01) and maximum
standardized uptake values of <5.0 (P = 0.01).
Conclusion: FDG PET-CT has diagnostic and
prognostic implications in treated patient of head
and neck cancers.