1) List 3 advantages to using PET/CT for surveillance of treated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. 2) List 3 disadvantages to using PET/CT for surveillance of treated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. 3) Describe the optimal frequency and duration of PET/CT for surveillance of treated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
In patients with head and neck squamous cell caricnomas, PET/CT has proved useful at several different stages of patient care. PET/CT is used for staging a newly-discovered malignancy (or re-staging of recurrence); it is used to monitor response to therapy; it is used to assess suspicious signs and symptoms in treated patients; and it is used for surveillance of treated patients who have no evidence of residual disease.
The appropriate application of PET/CT in these clinical scenarios is controversial. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of PET/CT for surveillance are undisputed, but the details of how to apply the technique have not been fully optimized in the current radiology literature. In this presentation, advantages and disadvantages of surveillance PET/CT (relative to CT) are described, and areas of controversy and ongoing research are delineated.
Branstetter, B,
Curtin, H,
Surveillance Imaging in Head and Neck Cancer: Should PET/CT be the First-line Modality?. Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL.
http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14002738.html
