ABSTRACT
Purpose To investigate the application value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis and staging of tongue cancer,in order to improve the accuracy of preoperative staging.Materials and Methods The 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of 52 patients with pathologically confirmed tongue cancer were retrospectively analyzed.The tumor location,size,FDG metabolic characteristics and tumor staging were observed,and compared with postoperative pathology.Results PET/CT showed that most patients were at middle or late stage when initially diagnosed (28/52).The lesions were mostly located on middle or middle-back region of tongues,and the average SUVmax was 6.81 ± 3.81.The sensitivity of PET/CT diagnosing tongue cancer was 94.2％.There was no significant difference in SUVmax between high,medium-high and medium differentiated tongue cancer primary lesions (P＞0.05).The SUVmax of tongue cancer at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ was obviously higher than that at stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.008).The diagnose and staging of tongue cancer using preoperative PET/CT and postoperative pathology were in excellent consistence (Kappa=0.859,P＜0.01).The staging accuracy reached 90.4％ (47/52).Conclusion Higher SUVmax value indicates worse tongue cancer staging,but it is of little significance in predicting differentiation.PET/CT can provide an objective imaging basis for preoperative diagnosis and accurate staging of tongue cancer.