Preview
Sign-in for full Details 
Sign-in free and Explore the Exciting World of BiomedExperts:
- Over 1.500.000 Profiles
- More than 1.800 Organizations worldwide
- State of the Art Network Visualizations
- Manage your own Profile
- Locate Experts in your Country/Region
- Locate Experts in your 1. and 2. Level Network
- Connect to Experts Worldwide
find experts for
Sign-in to see more
2006:
Schöder Heiko; Carlson Diane L; Kraus Dennis H; Stambuk Hilda E; Gönen Mithat; Erdi Yusuf E; Yeung Henry W D; Huvos Andrew G; Shah Jatin P; Larson Steven M; Wong Richard J
18F-FDG PET/CT for detecting nodal metastases in patients with oral cancer staged N0 by clinical examination and CT/MRI.
Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine 2006;
47(
5):.
(18)F-FDG PET has a high accuracy in staging head and neck cancer, but its role in patients with clinically and radiographically negative necks (N0) is less clear. In particular, the value of combined PET/CT has not been determined in this group of patients. METHODS: In a prospective study, 31 patients with oral cancer and no evidence of lymph node metastases by clinical examination or CT/MRI underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT before elective neck dissection. PET/CT findings were recorded by neck side (left or right) and lymph node level. PET/CT findings were compared with histopathology of dissected nodes, which was the standard of reference. RESULTS: Elective neck dissections (26 unilateral, 5 bilateral; a total of 36 neck sides), involving 142 nodal levels, were performed. Only 13 of 765 dissected lymph nodes harbored metastases. Histopathology revealed nodal metastases in 9 of 36 neck sides and 9 of 142 nodal levels. PET was TP in 6 nodal levels (6 neck sides), false-negative in 3 levels (3 neck sides), true-negative in 127 levels (23 neck sides), and false-positive in 6 levels (4 neck sides). The 3 false-negative findings occurred in metastases smaller than 3 mm or because of inability to distinguish between primary tumor and adjacent metastasis. TP and false-positive nodes exhibited similar standardized uptakes (4.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 4.2 +/- 1.0; P = not significant). Sensitivity and specificity were 67% and 85% on the basis of neck sides and 67% and 95% on the basis of number of nodal levels, respectively. If a decision regarding the need for neck dissection had been based solely on PET/CT, 3 false-negative necks would have been undertreated, and 4 false-positive necks would have been overtreated. CONCLUSION: (18)F-FDG PET/CT can identify lymph node metastases in a segment of patients with oral cancer and N0 neck. A negative test can exclude metastatic deposits with high specificity. Despite reasonably high overall accuracy, however, the clinical application of PET/CT in the N0 neck may be limited by the combination of limited sensitivity for small metastatic deposits and a relatively high number of false-positive findings. The surgical management of the N0 neck should therefore not be based on PET/CT findings alone.
Post to CiteULike 
Sign in free and see...
Visualized networks:
See your personal network in
sophisticated graphical views
GeoTargeted Searches:
Locate experts around the world
and connect with global collaborators
Research Profiles:
See the visualized research activity
of experts around the globe
Sign-in to see more
