Comparison of 18F-FDG and 11C-choline PET/CT for detecting recurrences in patients with nonsquamous cell head and neck malignancies.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the usefulness of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and C-choline positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for detecting recurrences of nonsquamous cell head and neck malignancies after chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

METHOD

Fourteen patients (10 men and four women; mean age: 53.7 ± 14.5 years) with advanced nonsquamous cell head and neck malignancies other than squamous cell carcinoma were recruited. F-FDG and C-choline PET/CT examinations were performed in all the patients after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The PET/CT images were evaluated using a visual analysis and a region-based analysis. After the posttreatment PET/CT examination, all the patients underwent further surveillance using the conventional imaging methods.

RESULTS

Recurrences were eventually confirmed in eight patients after the posttreatment PET/CT examination. The region-based analysis showed that the maximum standardized uptake values for F-FDG and C-choline were strongly correlated with each other (R=0.84). The C-choline PET/CT clearly detected the lesions in two patients, one with severe diabetes mellitus and one with a brain lesion.

CONCLUSION

The abilities of F-FDG and C-choline PET/CT to detect lesions were almost the same in this study. In addition, choline has a superior potential for imaging skull base and intracranial lesions because the normal brain is not choline avid.