Parotid gland tumors: preliminary data for the value of FDG PET/CT diagnostic parameters.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to establish (18)F-FDG metabolic imaging parameters to differentiate benign and malignant tumors of the parotid gland. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-nine patients with increased FDG uptake in the parotid gland were selected for the study group (29 men and 20 women; mean age, 63.14 ± 12.32 years). Another 49 patients without head and neck malignancies were selected as the control group (24 men and 25 women; mean age, 65.80 ± 11.51 years); they did not have a parotid lesion or increased FDG uptake in the parotid gland. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) was obtained for all patients. Metabolic tumor volume and total glycolytic activity were measured in patients with a discrete parotid lesion (n = 24). Nonparameteric Student t test (Mann-Whitney U test) was performed for between-group analysis. RESULTS The median SUV(max) of the increased diffuse uptake (2.55; interquartile range [IQR], 1.03-4.07) was significantly lower than the median SUV(max) of tumors (8.48; IQR, 1.46-15.5) (p < 0.01). The median SUV(max) of malignant tumors (11.8; IQR, 4.45-19.15) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of benign tumors (6.4; IQR, 3.4-9.0). There was significant difference (p = 0.003) in the median metabolic tumor volume for malignant tumors (8.9; IQR, 5.1-25.5) and benign tumors or lesions (1.4; IQR, 1.00-2.9). Similar results were found for total glycolytic activity for malignant tumors (67.9; IQR, 24.2-137.6) and benign tumors or lesions (8.4; IQR, 3.9-13.6) (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION FDG PET/CT SUV(max), metabolic tumor volume, and total glycolytic activity are imaging parameters to differentiate benign and malignant tumors of the parotid gland.

[1]  A. Ozonoff,et al.  Squamous cell carcinoma of the palatine tonsils: FDG standardized uptake value ratio as a biomarker to differentiate tonsillar carcinoma from physiologic uptake. , 2010, Radiology.

[2]  Habib Zaidi,et al.  PET-guided delineation of radiation therapy treatment volumes: a survey of image segmentation techniques , 2010, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

[3]  T. Kurabayashi,et al.  [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT differentiation between physiological and pathological accumulations in head and neck , 2009, Nuclear medicine communications.

[4]  A. Nelson,et al.  PET tumor segmentation: Validation of a gradient-based method using a NSCLC PET phantom , 2009 .

[5]  Françoise Kraeber-Bodéré,et al.  Does 18F-FDG PET/CT Improve the Detection of Posttreatment Recurrence of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Patients Negative for Disease on Clinical Follow-up? , 2008, Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[6]  Tomio Inoue,et al.  SUV correction for injection errors in FDG-PET examination , 2007, Annals of nuclear medicine.

[7]  V. Shah,et al.  Oncocytoma of the parotid gland: a potential false-positive finding on 18F-FDG PET. , 2007, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[8]  Jeong Hyun Lee,et al.  Utility of 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography and positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in the preoperative staging of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. , 2007, Oral oncology.

[9]  J. Choi,et al.  Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Management of High-Grade Salivary Gland Malignancies , 2007, Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[10]  Devraj Basu,et al.  Detection of occult bone metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: impact of positron emission tomography computed tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose F 18. , 2007, Archives of otolaryngology--head & neck surgery.

[11]  C. Cernea,et al.  Clinical Prognostic Factors in Malignant Parotid Gland Tumors , 2005, Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

[12]  C. Nanni,et al.  Does 18F-FDG PET/CT play a role in the differential diagnosis of parotid masses. , 2005, Panminerva medica.

[13]  Barton F Branstetter,et al.  Combined PET-CT in the head and neck: part 1. Physiologic, altered physiologic, and artifactual FDG uptake. , 2005, Radiographics : a review publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.

[14]  David Schuster,et al.  F‐18 FDG PET‐CT fusion in radiotherapy treatment planning for head and neck cancer , 2005, Head & neck.

[15]  L. Harrison,et al.  Planned Neck Dissection after Concomitant Radiochemotherapy for Advanced Head and Neck Cancer , 2005, The Laryngoscope.

[16]  D. Visvikis,et al.  Impact of combined 18F-FDG PET/CT in head and neck tumours , 2005, British Journal of Cancer.

[17]  Yuji Nakamoto,et al.  Normal FDG distribution patterns in the head and neck: PET/CT evaluation. , 2005, Radiology.

[18]  Y. Okamoto,et al.  Diagnostic Value of FDG PET and Salivary Gland Scintigraphy for Parotid Tumors , 2005, Clinical nuclear medicine.

[19]  R. Boellaard,et al.  Effects of noise, image resolution, and ROI definition on the accuracy of standard uptake values: a simulation study. , 2004, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[20]  B. Ljung,et al.  Environmental Factors and the Risk of Salivary Gland Cancer , 1997, Epidemiology.

[21]  G. V. von Schulthess,et al.  Positron emission tomography in the early follow-up of advanced head and neck cancer. , 2004, Archives of otolaryngology--head & neck surgery.

[22]  J. Kawabe,et al.  Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging of parotid mass lesions. , 1998, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.