Erschienen in:
10.02.2020 | Original Article
Quantification of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake to detect residual nodal disease in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after chemoradiotherapy: results from the ECLYPS study
verfasst von:
Nils Helsen, Tim Van den Wyngaert, Laurens Carp, Remco De Bree, Olivier M. VanderVeken, Frank De Geeter, Alex Maes, Jean-Philippe Cambier, Karoline Spaepen, Michel Martens, Sara Hakim, Laurence Beels, Otto S. Hoekstra, Danielle Van den Weyngaert, Sigrid Stroobants, Carl Van Laer, Pol Specenier, Annelies Maes, Philip Debruyne, Isabel Hutsebaut, Joost Van Dinter, Filip Homans, Laurence Goethals, Oliver Lenssen, Kristof Deben, ECLYPS Consortium
Erschienen in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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Ausgabe 5/2020
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Abstract
Background
The Hopkins criteria were introduced for nodal response evaluation after therapy in head and neck cancer, but its superiority over quantification is not yet confirmed.
Methods
SUVbody weight thresholds and lesion-to-background ratios were explored in a prospective multicenter study of standardized FDG-PET/CT 12 weeks after CRT in newly diagnosed locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC) patients (ECLYPS). Reference standard was histology, negative FDG-PET/CT at 12 months after treatment or ≥ 2 years of negative follow-up. Area under the receiver operator characteristics curves (AUROC) were estimated and obtained thresholds were validated in an independent cohort of HNSCC patients (n = 127).
Results
In ECLYPS, 124 patients were available for quantification. With a median follow-up of 20.4 months, 23 (18.5%) nodal neck recurrences were observed. A SUV70 threshold of 2.2 (AUROC = 0.89; sensitivity = 79.7%; specificity = 80.8%) was identified as optimal metric to identify nodal recurrence within 1 year after therapy. For lesion-to-background ratios, an SUV50/SUVliver threshold of 0.96 (AUROC = 0.89; sensitivity = 79.7%; specificity = 82.8%) had the best performance. Compared with Hopkins criteria (AUROC = 0.81), SUV70 and SUV50/SUVliver provided a borderline significant (p = 0.040 and p = 0.094, respectively) improvement. Validation of thresholds yielded similar AUROC values (SUV70 = 0.93, SUV50/SUVliver = 0.95), and were comparable to the Hopkins score (AUROC = 0.91; not statistically significant).
Conclusion
FDG quantification detects nodal relapse in LAHNSCC patients. When using EARL standardized PET acquisitions and reconstruction, absolute SUV metrics (SUV70 threshold 2.2) prove robust, yet ratios (SUV50/SUVliver, threshold 0.96) may be more useful in routine clinical care. In this setting, the diagnostic value of quantification is comparable to the Hopkins criteria.