Abstract
In spite of the good organ preservation strategies available for locally advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC), failure rates have been reported to be as high as 35-50%. There has been an increasing interest in predicting response to treatment, to aid early intervention and better outcomes. FDG-PET is a standard modality for post treatment evaluation, however it is still under utilized as a pre-treatment investigative modality. Several articles have described quantitative parameters in pre-treatment FDG-PET to prognosticate patients and determine likelihood of response to treatment however they are still not used commonly. This article was a review of the literature available on pre-treatment FDG PET quantitative parameters and their value in predicting failure. A thorough review of literature from MEDLINE and EMBASE was performed on pre treatment quantitative parameters in HNSCC. Metabolic Tumor Volume (MTV) and Total Lesion Glycolysis (TLG) were reliable parameters to predict response to organ preservation therapy, disease free and overall survival. SUVmax was an inconsistent parameter. MTV and TLG may help predict poor response to organ preservation to initiate early surgical salvage or modify therapeutic decisions to optimize clinical outcomes. Routine incorporation into PET reporting may provide additional information over SUVmax alone.
Citation
Subramaniam N, Balasubramanian D, Sundaram S and Murthy S. Role of Pre -Treatment FDG PET Quantitative Parameters in Prognostication of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma - A Review. J Surg Oncol Clin Res. 2017; 1(1): 1004.