Livneh Nir, Weinstein Wexler Chen, Feinmesser Gilad, Granot Iris, Alon Eran
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Institute of Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Clin Otolaryngol. 2025 Nov;50(6):973-980. doi: 10.1111/coa.70003. Epub 2025 Jun 22.
To determine the prediction value of a second PET-CT imaging study performed 1 year after treatment for patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma.
A Retrospective single-institution tertiary care centre study. Included are all patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer between 2010 and 2020 at a tertiary medical centre. All 77 suitable patients completed at least two ET-CT scans during the post-treatment period, the first at 3 months and the second at 1 year. The follow-up extended to 5 years after treatment. The main outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
In total, 55 (65%) patients had no evidence of disease (NED) on the 1-year PET-CT. The negative predictive value of 1-year PET-CT was 91% for 4-year DFS and 100% for 4-year OS. Regression analysis of NED on the 1-year PET-CT correlated with 5-year DFS (odds ratio [OR] 55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.2-500, p = 0.001) and low probability of 5-year recurrence rates (OR 11.23, 1.23-100, p = 0.03).
The findings of this study demonstrate that NED on PET-CT performed 1 year after the completion of treatment for oropharyngeal cancer is indicative of very low recurrence rates and almost non-existent mortality. We suggest performing a second PET-CT study at 1 year post-treatment on all patients with negative results on the first one performed at 3 months post-treatment. Negative findings on the second study may allow for a more lenient clinical follow-up protocol.
