AUTHOR=Zhao Guo , Sun Jianli , Ba Kai , Zhang Yunxiang
TITLE=Significance of PET-CT for Detecting Occult Lymph Node Metastasis and Affecting Prognosis in Early-Stage Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology
VOLUME=10
YEAR=2020
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00386
DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.00386
ISSN=2234-943X
ABSTRACT=Objective: We aimed to clarify the significance of PET-CT for detecting occult lymph node metastasis and for affecting prognosis in early-stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Methods: Patients with surgically treated primary cT1-2N0 tongue SCC who agreed to undergo a preoperative PET-CT scan were prospectively enrolled. The primary study outcomes were occult neck lymph node metastasis and locoregional control (LRC). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the LRC rate, and then the factors that were significant in the Kaplan-Meier method were assessed in the Cox model to determine the independent factors.
Results: A total of 135 patients were included, and the median maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) of the primary tumor was 9.0. When analyzing the PET-CT results, 18 patients were recognized as having neck lymph node metastasis, and 12 patients were proven to have pathologic lymph nodes. A total of 117 patients did not have neck lymph node metastasis reported by PET-CT, and five patients were proven to have pathologic lymph nodes. The sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT for predicting occult metastasis were 70.6 and 94.9%, respectively. In patients with an SUV max ≤ 9.0, the 5-year LRC rate was 95%; in patients with an SUV max >9.0, the 5-year LRC rate was 85%, and the difference was significant. Further Cox model analyses confirmed the independence of the SUV max for predicting LRC.
Conclusion: PET-CT has a high specificity for predicting occult lymph node metastasis, and an SUV max >9.0 is significantly associated with worse LRC in cT1-2N0 tongue SCC.