The potential advantages of 18F sodium fluoride positron emission tomography-computed tomography for clinical staging and management planning in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Abstract

The staging and treatment planning of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) face challenges due to limited sensitivity of conventional imaging. 18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) offers potential advantages in detecting early bone involvement. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the potential advantage of 18F-NaF PET/CT for clinical staging and management planning in patients with NPC and to compare 18F-NaF PET/CT findings with those of conventional imaging modalities. We enrolled a cohort of patients with NPC who underwent 18F-NaF PET/CT at our PET/CT center between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2021, and analyzed the findings of 18F-NaF PET/CT and conventional imaging modalities. Data from multidisciplinary team discussions on clinical staging and management planning both before and after 18F-NaF PET/CT were recorded. Additionally, any changes in clinical staging and management planning following 18F-NaF PET/CT were documented. A total of 58 patients were included in this study. After 18F-NaF PET/CT imaging, clinical tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging was observed to have changed in seven cases (12.1%). Among these, four cases had changes in T stage and three cases in the M stage. Additionally, changes in clinical management plans were observed in eight patients (13.8%). Changes due the results of 18F-NaF PET/CT included three cases with major modification (two cases switched from curative treatment to palliative treatment, and one case switched from palliative treatment to curative treatment) and five cases with minor changes. The minor changes involved alteration to the radiotherapy target volume (three cases with an increased target volume and one case with a reduced target area). Furthermore, one case required an alteration to the radiotherapy strategy for local bone involvement. The use of 18F-NaF PET/CT in patients newly diagnosed with NPC may offer potential advantages for clinical staging and treatment planning, enabling physicians to select a more individualized treatment approach.