Detection of cervical metastases with 11C-tyrosine pet in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx: A comparison with 18F-FDG PET

✍ Scribed by Christiaan A. Krabbe; Gerreke van der Werff-Regelink; Jan Pruim; Jacqueline E. van der Wal; Jan L. N. Roodenburg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 115 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.21192

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Background.

A disadvantage of 2‐[^18^F]fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose (^18^F‐FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in head and neck cancer is that ^18^F‐FDG uptake is not specific to malignant tissue. To provide an alternative, radiolabeled amino acids such as L‐1‐[^11^C]‐tyrosine (^11^C‐TYR), were introduced because these are less avidly metabolized by inflammatory cells.

Methods.

In this prospective study, we compared both ^11^C‐TYR PET and ^18^F‐FDG PET performance in detecting cervical metastases in 27 patients with a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of oral cavity or oropharynx.

Results.

^11^C‐TYR PET sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for detecting nodal metastases were 33%, 100%, and 81%, respectively. With respect to ^18^F‐FDG PET, these figures were 67%, 97%, and 89%, respectively. Neck metastases not detected by ^11^C‐TYR PET were camouflaged by high tracer uptake by salivary glands.

Conclusions.

Because of bilateral accumulation of ^11^C‐TYR in salivary glands, ^11^C‐TYR PET is not suitable to replace ^18^F‐FDG PET in staging SCC of oral cavity and oropharynx. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2010