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Objective To explore the clinical significance of PET-CT in evaluating distant metastasis and M staging of nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). Methods 257 NPC patients with no prior treatment were investigated with PET-CT and conventional imaging (chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, and bone scan). The findings of PET-CT in diagnosing distant metastasis and M staging were compared with those of conventional imaging according to the results of biopsy and follow-up. Results PET-CT disclosed 34 of 39 patients with distant malignancy compared with 22 patients disclosed by conventional imaging. The false positive rate of PET-CT was 12.8 %. On region-based analyses, PET-CT was more effective than bone scan and chest X-ray for detecting mediastinum metastasis (x2=4.063, P =0.041) and bone metastasis (x2=5.939, P=0.015), respectively. Compared with conventional imaging, PET-CT had an impact on the M staging of 19 patients (7.4 %), of which 15 patients were truly staged and 4 patients incorrectly staged. Conclusion PET-CT is superior to MRI in evaluating distant metastasis and M staging of NPC.
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Objective To explore the spread patterns of retropharyngeal lymph node (RLN) metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods From July 2003 to March 2005, three hundred and three patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in initial treatment were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before treatment, meanwhile measured the minimal and maximal axial diameters, the longitudinal diameter and the central and craniocaudad locations of each positive RLN. Results A total number of 264 positive RLN were found in 177 patients. The minimal and maximal axial diameters and longitudinal diameter of positive RLN were 9.9, 12.9 and 22.4 mm, respectively. Ipsilateral metastatic RLN were noted as follows: two nodes in 21 patients, three nodes in 3 patients and four nodes in 1 patient. According to the longitudinal central location of 263 positive lateral RLN, the numbers of nodes at occipital bone, C1, C1/C2, C2, C2/C3 and C3 were 27, 166, 40, 23, 5 and 2, respectively; the mean minimal axial diameters of nodes were 6.8, 9.9, 12.5, 10.4, 9.3 and 8.0 mm, respectively. Conclusion Multiple metastatic ipsilateral RLN are not common in NPC. The rate of RLN metastasis shows the trend of decreasing from vertebral C1 to C3.The maximal diameters of RLN are in the C1/C2 intervertebral space, and reveal a decreasing frequency along the craniocaudal directions of occipital and vertebral C1.
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Objective To compare the short-term effects and toxicity of one cycle of TPF regimen induction chemotherapy with that of two cycles of PF regimen induction chemotherapy in the N advanced local nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 47 patients initially treated with N advanced local NPC without distant metastasis from Jan 2007 to Dec 2008 were enrolled in this study. The TPF chemotherapy regimen was administered as follows: TAX 60 mg/m2, i.v. infusion on day 1st, cisplatin 80 mg/m2, i.v. infusion on day 1st and 5-Fu 800 mg/m2, bolus infusion in 96 hours on day lst-4th. The PF chemotherapy regimen was as follows: cisplatin 100 mg/m2, i.v. infusion on day 1 and 5-Fu 1000 mg/m2, bolus infusion in 96 hours on day lst-4th. Twenty-six patients received one cycle of TPF regimen and 21 patients received two cycles of PF regimen, with 21 days each cycle and a total of 3 courses in each group, then chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin 30 mg/m2 (weekly) was followed. Results The short-term efficacy was no significant difference between two groups, after one cycle TPF chemotherapy, the CR+PR rates of primary site and lymph nodes were 57.7 % and 69.2 %, respectively, while after two cycles PF chemotherapy in control group, those were 66.7 % and 71.4 %, respectively (P>0.05). In 3 months after treatment, the CR rates of primary site and lymph nodes in TPF group were 92.3 % and 88.7 %, respectively, while those in control group were 100.0 % and 90.5 %, respectively (P>0.05). The main adverse reactions were Grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ neutropenia and alopecia in TPF group. Conclusion Short-term effects of induction chemotherapy with one cycle of TPF regimen in the N advanced local NPC is satisfied, and the main toxicity is neutropenia.
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Objective To investigate the clinical significance of PET-CT to diagnose breast cancer and the axiUary lymph nodes metastasis. Methods 40 patients with breast cancer performed PET-CT were enrolled in the research. Qualitation the primary tumor and accuracy of PET-CT were evaluated on pathological results and compared with axillary lymph nodes dissection. To analyzed the concordance of the size of primary tumor on pathological result with B-mode ultrasonic and PET-CT and the correlation with the SUV. Results The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT in identifying breast cancer were 95%, 94%, 100%. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT based on the situation of the axillary lymph node dissection were 88.2% 89.2% 83.3%. A significant association was found between tumor weiweihong and PET-CT, furthermore it had not association with SUV. Conclusion The diagnosis of PET-CT in identifying breast cancer and the axillary lymph node metastasis basically conforms to pathology. It possesses high sensitivity and specificity especially in identifying the size of the primary lesion. It offers a beneficial method to determine the axillary lymph node dissection and reasonable therapeutic regimen.