S. Leskinenkallio et al., IMAGING OF HEAD AND NECK TUMORS WITH POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY AND[C-11] METHIONINE, International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 30(5), 1994, pp. 1195-1199
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Oncology,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Purpose: To evaluate the value of positron emission tomography and [C-
11]methionine in imaging of malignant tumors of the head and neck regi
on. Methods and Materials: Forty-seven tumors of the head and neck wer
e investigated with C-11-labeled methionine and positron emission tomo
graphy before treatment. Because of the resolution limits of the posit
ron emission tomography scanner, all tumors selected for the study wer
e larger than 1 cm in diameter. Results: Forty-two (91%) of the 46 mal
ignant tumors were clearly visible in the positron emission tomography
image (squamous cell carcinoma, n = 26; lymphoma, n = 9; adenocystic
carcinoma, n = 2; lymphoepithelioma, n = 1; adenocarcinoma, n = 1; tra
nsitional cellcarcinoma, n = 1; esthesioneuroblastoma, n = 1; plasmocy
toma, n = 1), while three (7%) squamous cell carcinomas were visible,
but less easy to detect due to physiological accumulation of the trace
r in the area under observation. Only one (2%) squamous cell carcinoma
could not be delineated from the positron emission tomography image,
and there was no uptake of [C-11]methionine in a benign pleomorphic ad
enoma. No correlation was found between the uptake of [C-11]methionine
and the histological grade in the subset of squamous cell carcinoma (
n = 30). High physiological uptake of [C-11]methionine was observed in
the salivary glands and the bone marrow. Conclusions: Malignant head
and neck tumors can be effectively imaged with positron emission tomog
raphy using [C-11]methionine as the tracer.