Clinical Role of F-18 FDG PET/CT in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck / 한양의대학술지

ABSTRACT

Diagnostic imaging plays an important role in accurate staging, restaging, and treatment monitoring, and is essential in both planning adequate treatment and minimizing treatment-related toxicity and functional impairment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). MRI and CT remains the primary imaging modalities for the assessment of HNSCC, but F-18 FDG PET/CT had emerged as a vital adjunct when used in the appropriate clinical setting, such as delineation of extent of regional lymph node involvement, detection of distant metastasis, identification of an unknown primary tumor, detection of an occasional synchronous primary tumor, monitoring of the treatment response, and long-term surveillance for recurrence and metastases. In this manuscript, clinical application of F-18 FDG PET/CT on HNSCC in initial staging, radiotherapy planning, carcinoma of unknown primary of squamous cell origin, evaluation of response to radiation and/or chemoradiation therapy, and prediction of prognosis will be discussed and other promising PET radiotracers will be introduced.