Are dual-phase 18F-FDG PET scans necessary in nasopharyngeal carcinoma to assess the primary tumour and loco-regional nodes?

PURPOSE: This prospective study aimed to investigate the efficacy of dual-phase positron emission tomography (PET) in evaluating the loco-regional status of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODS: Eighty-four patients with newly diagnosed NPC and a fasting serum glucose level of <200 mg/dl were enrolled. [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) PET studies (at 40 min and 3 h after injection of 370 MBq 18F-FDG) and head and neck magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed within 1 week. Diagnostic criteria for NPC comprised the histopathological findings, the joint judgments of the research team and the post-treatment outcome. Each lesion's maximum standardised uptake value (SUV) and retention index were obtained. SUV data were evaluated using a paired t test. Receiver operating characteristic curves and calculation of the area under the curve (AUC) determined the discriminative power.

RESULTS: 18F-FDG PET was significantly superior to MRI in identifying lower neck NPC nodal metastasis (AUC: 1 vs 0. 972, P=0.046) and overall loco-regional metastases (AUC: 0.985 vs 0.958, P=0.036). However, 18F-FDG PET was similar to MRI in detecting primary tumour, as well as retropharyngeal, upper neck and supraclavicular nodal metastases. There was no significant difference between early phase (40 min) and delayed phase (3 h) 18F-FDG PET in the detection of primary tumours (accuracy: 100% vs 100%) or loco-regional nodal metastasis (AUC: 0.984 vs 0.985, P=0.834).

CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG PET is superior to MRI in identifying lower neck nodal metastasis of NPC. Additional 3-h 18F-FDG PET contributes no further information in the detection of primary tumours or loco-regional metastatic nodes in untreated NPC patients.