Detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using 99Tcm-methoxyisobutylisonitrile SPECT.

99Tcm-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the head and neck was performed in 20 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) to detect the malignancies. Ten volunteers also underwent 99Tcm-MIBI SPECT of the head and neck for comparison. The results showed no MIBI uptake in the nasopharynx of any of the 10 normal volunteers. In the patients with NPC, 6/20 (30%) of the cases had no MIBI uptake in the nasopharynx and 14/20 (70%) had increased MIBI uptake in the nasopharynx. In addition, three cases with cervical metastases were detected by 99Tcm-MIBI. However, MIBI uptake in the NPC was not related to the size or differentiation of the NPC.