Abstract
This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of thallium-201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and conventional imaging, i.e. computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in the detection of residual/recurrent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity. Thirty-two patients with clinically suspected recurrent SCC of the oral cavity were recruited. All patients underwent thallium-201 SPECT and CT or MRI within 2 weeks. The final diagnoses were based on the histology of biopsy specimen. TI-201 SPECT and CT/MRI both accurately detected 17 of 18 residual/recurrent tumors. CT/MRI had 8 false-positive studies, whereas Tl-201 SPECT successfully excluded all tumors. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of Tl-201 SPECT for the detection of recurrent oral SCC were 94%, 100%, 100%, 93%, and 97%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of CT/MRI for the detection of recurrent oral SOC were 94%, 43%, 68%, 86%, and 72%, respectively. Thallium-201 SPECT is more accurate than conventional imaging (CT or MRI) in differentiating residual/recurrent oral SCC from post-therapy changes.
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