The role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in initial staging and re-staging of head and neck cancer

The aim of this study is to have a solid basis for the effectiveness of the 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging technique, which hasknown advantages for patients with head and neck cancers during staging and restaging prior to treatment and to comparethis method with the corresponding clinical and radiological methods. A total of 139 patients with squamous cell head and neck carcinoma underwent PET/CT imaging. A total of 146 PET/CTimaging was performed in all patients. PET/CT imaging performed for staging and restaging in 36 and 103 patients,respectively. At least one conventional imaging (CI) as CT and/or MRI was performed for each one of the total patients.PET/CT studies revealed 66 true positive, 72 true negative, 4 false positive and 4 false negative results whereas the samevalues for CI were 65, 64, 4 and 6, respectively. When all studies were analyzed on the basis of lesion for PET/CT, specificity was 94.7%, and sensitivity being 94.2%,where as corresponding values for conventional imaging methods were found 94.1% and 91.5% respectively. Recurrentlesions have been detected with PET/CT and treatment management was changed in 29 of 139 patients.FDG-PET/CT improves the diagnostic accuracy in head and neck cancer patients.