BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use, the utility of pretreatment positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) remains undefined. In this study, we aim to determine its accuracy in nodal disease. METHODS: In all, 111 patients managed between 2003 and 2007 were analyzed. RESULTS: For squamous cell cancers (SCCs) with any increased nodal uptake (mild to high), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs) were 75%, 95%, 85%, and 90%. However, if PET was deemed positive for only moderate to high uptake, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 71%, 95%, 85%, and 89%. In patients undergoing elective neck dissection, the accuracy was lower: for any increased uptake, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 66%, 96%, 83%, and 92%, whereas for moderate to high uptake, these were 52%, 97%, 79%, and 89%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite advances in PET/CT technology, these statistics suggest that PET/CT is not sufficiently accurate to direct superselective neck dissections, or to guide therapeutic decisions in the N0 neck.
BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use, the utility of pretreatment positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) remains undefined. In this study, we aim to determine its accuracy in nodal disease. METHODS: In all, 111 patients managed between 2003 and 2007 were analyzed. RESULTS: For squamous cell cancers (SCCs) with any increased nodal uptake (mild to high), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs) were 75%, 95%, 85%, and 90%. However, if PET was deemed positive for only moderate to high uptake, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 71%, 95%, 85%, and 89%. In patients undergoing elective neck dissection, the accuracy was lower: for any increased uptake, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 66%, 96%, 83%, and 92%, whereas for moderate to high uptake, these were 52%, 97%, 79%, and 89%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite advances in PET/CT technology, these statistics suggest that PET/CT is not sufficiently accurate to direct superselective neck dissections, or to guide therapeutic decisions in the N0 neck.
Authors: Val J Lowe; Fenghai Duan; Rathan M Subramaniam; JoRean D Sicks; Justin Romanoff; Twyla Bartel; Jian Q Michael Yu; Brian Nussenbaum; Jeremy Richmon; Charles D Arnold; David Cognetti; Brendan C Stack Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2019-02-15 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Shlomo A Koyfman; Nofisat Ismaila; Doug Crook; Anil D'Cruz; Cristina P Rodriguez; David J Sher; Damian Silbermins; Erich M Sturgis; Terance T Tsue; Jared Weiss; Sue S Yom; F Christopher Holsinger Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2019-02-27 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: S Partovi; A Kohan; J L Vercher-Conejero; C Rubbert; S Margevicius; M D Schluchter; C Gaeta; P Faulhaber; M R Robbin Journal: AJNR Am J Neuroradiol Date: 2014-06-12 Impact factor: 3.825
Authors: Denys J Loeffelbein; Michael Souvatzoglou; Veronika Wankerl; Julia Dinges; Lucas M Ritschl; Thomas Mücke; Anja Pickhard; Matthias Eiber; Markus Schwaiger; Ambros J Beer Journal: BMC Cancer Date: 2014-11-19 Impact factor: 4.430