Abstract
Objective: Evaluate the usefulness of [18F]fluoromisonidazole ([18F]FMISO)-positron emission tomography (PET) prior to treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Method: We evaluated 30 lesions from 17 patients with HNSCC underwent pretreatment FMISO-PET. SUVmax and tumor-to-muscle ratios (TMR) were measured as hypoxia indicators and tumors were defined as hypoxic or normoxic. Between the hypoxic tumor group and the normoxic tumor group, local control rates with radiotherapy and survival prognosis were compared.
Results: Radiotherapy outcome: Local control rates with radiotherapy (20-month median follow-up duration) were significantly lower for the hypoxic tumor group using either SUVmax or TMR as the hypoxic indicator (P = .02 and .04-respectively). Patient Prognosis (operation or radiotherapy): No significant difference was found between the hypoxic and the normoxic patient groups for event-free survival rate (12-month median follow-up duration) using either SUVmax or TMR as the hypoxic indicator (P = .07 and .13, respectively). On the other hand, disease specific survival rate (21-month median follow-up duration) was significantly lower in the hypoxic group defined by SUVmax (P = .04), but was not by TMR (P = .57).
Conclusion: The current results suggest that the radiotherapy outcome and survival prognosis (operation or radiotherapy) in HNSCC may be predicted by carrying out [18F]FMISO -PET/CT before treatment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.