FDG-PET/CT can predict distant metastasis and survival in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Study

Japan: 18F-FDG-PET/CT is helpful for predicting distant metastasis, overall survival, and distant metastasis-free survival in patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC), a recent study has stated. The study appears in the Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. 

"The study highlights the role of SUVmax in pretreatment primary tumors of HPSCC and shows that SUVmax is significantly associated with overall survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and distant metastasis," Shinsuke Suzuki, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan, and colleagues wrote in their study. 

 A high rate of distant metastasis in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma results in poor prognosis. In the study, the researchers team aimed to investigate the use of standardized uptake value (SUVmax), which was assessed via pretreatment 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and computed tomography (CT) as prognostic factor, including its ability to predict distant metastases in patients with HPSCC.

For the purpose, 121 patients who underwent pretreatment FDG-PET/CT scanning and subsequent HPSCC treatment were included. SUVmax measurement was done via FDG-PET/CT. To determine whether the SUVmax was a predictor of distant metastasis and to select the best cutoff value, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used. The associations between SUVmax and other clinicopathological factors with distant metastasis-free survival were identified using univariate and multivariate Cox hazard regression analyses.