Imaging of head and neck tumors with technetium(V)-99m DMSA. A new tumor-seeking agent.

Tumor scintigraphy, using Tc(V)-99m DMSA was performed on 76 patients with head and neck tumors. In 32 cases, SPECT also was performed. Tc(V)-99m DMSA was found to have a sensitivity of 75% (56 cases), a specificity of 85% (20 cases) and an accuracy of 78% on planar imaging. ECT studies showed accumulation of Tc(V)-99m DMSA in all 25 malignant cases studied. However, in benign tumors, four of seven cases (57%) showed radionuclide uptake. Tc(V)-99m DMSA has superior physical properties to Ga-67 and could be of use in the diagnosis of head and neck tumors.