Detection Ability of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Clinical T Classification of Synchronous Esophageal Cancer in Pharyngeal Cancer.

Abstract

The utility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) for clinical T classification of synchronous esophageal cancer (SEC) in pharyngeal cancer has not been fully elucidated. We investigated the association between 18F-FDG-PET/CT and clinical T classification for SEC. We retrospectively enrolled 90 patients with pharyngeal cancer having both Lugol chromoendoscopy and 18F-FDG-PET/CT at pretreatment. The association between 18F-FDG-PET/CT and pathological examination was compared by the Fisher's exact test. Pathologically, 12 patients with SEC were diagnosed. The number of locations for SEC with cT1a, cT1b, and cT3 was 20, 1, and 1, respectively. Sensitivity for cT1a-cT3, cT1b-cT3, and cT3 was 9.1%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Locations of SEC with cT1b-cT3 were significantly detected. The locations of SEC with cT1b-cT3 were more frequently detected than those without cT1b-cT3 by 18F-FDG-PET/CT (p<0.01). Detection of SEC with clinical T1b-T3 in comparison to clinical T1a on pretreatment 18F-FDG-PET/CT for patients with pharyngeal cancer, was achieved with high sensitivity.