The Prognostic and Diagnostic Value of [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT in Untreated Laryngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

This study aims to determine the diagnostic accuracy of staging PET/CT and neck MRI in patients with laryngeal carcinoma and to assess the value of PET/CT in predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Sixty-eight patients who had both modalities performed before treatment between 2014 and 2021 were included in this study. The sensitivity and specificity of PET/CT and MRI were evaluated. PET/CT had 93.8% sensitivity, 58.3% specificity, and 75% accuracy for nodal metastasis, whereas MRI had 68.8%, 61.1%, and 64.7% accuracy, respectively. At a median follow-up of 51 months, 23 patients had developed disease progression and 17 patients had died. Univariate-survival analysis revealed all utilized PET parameters as significant prognostic factors for OS and PFS (p-value p-value < 0.05 each). In conclusion, PET/CT improves the accuracy of nodal staging in laryngeal carcinoma over neck MRI and adds to the prognostication of survival outcomes through the use of several PET metrics.

Keywords

• PET/CT
• semiquantitative PET parameters
• laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma
• metastatic lymph node
• [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT vs. neck MRI
• MTV