Biological Response of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma to Radiation Therapy: A Pilot Study Using Serial ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT Scans

Abstract

We used serial ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) to evaluate tumors’ maximum standardized uptake value (SUV_max) before, during, and after radiotherapy to explore the biological behavior of and response to radiation therapy in various subtypes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Sixty-one patients with pathologically diagnosed NPC were prospectively enrolled into the study. WHO type II_B disease had a higher initial SUV_max and more significant biological response at the primary site as compared with type II_A subtype. The two subtypes of WHO type II NPC may significantly differ in their biological behavior and response to radiotherapy.

Keywords:

• Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
• ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography
• Radiotherapy
• Histology

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Professor Joe, Y. Chang, working in MD Anderson Cancer Center, having reviewed the article. And the authors thank the members and staff of the Departments of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology of The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

The authors report no declarations of interest. This study was supported by grant no. 2008-59-11 from the Major Projects of Fujian Natural Science Foundation and grant no. 2008-1-51 from the Youth Projects of Fujian Provincial Health Bureau.