LAUSR

PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate the predictive and prognostic value of FDG PET/CT-based volumetric parameters in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) treated by superselective intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy (IA-CRT).MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study including 33 patients with biopsy-proven OTSCC between May 2007 and February 2016. All of the patients were treated by IA-CRT. Pretreatment SUVmax and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) of the primary tumor were measured. The SUV thresholds of 2.5 and 5.0 were used. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were chosen as endpoints to evaluate prognosis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the potential independent effect of FDG PET/CT parameters.ResultsThe median follow-up for surviving patients was 40.7 months (range 6.0–107.5 months). In univariate and multivariate analyses, SUVmax and MTV (5.0) were independent prognostic factors for PFS. In univariate analysis, SUVmax failed to predict OS. MTV (5.0) was a significant prognostic factor for OS, but multivariate analysis failed to show statistical independence because it could not exclude the possibility of an artifact due to N stage.ConclusionsFDG PET/CT-based volumetric parameters may be significant prognostic markers for survival of patients with OTSCC who are treated by IA-CRT.