Local Recurrence vs. Radiotherapy-Induced Edema in Advanced Laryn-geal Carcinoma: Is FDG PET/CT Up to the Challenge?

摘要

Head-aud-neck squarnous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a high-risk disease. Historically, treatment often involved mutilating surgery, with devastating implications for quality of life, particularly in patients with advanced-stage la-lyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (ALSCC). Treatment for ALSCC always included total laryngectomy. Nowadays, treatment with more effective chemoradiotherapy regimes in newly diagnosed patients may often avoid total laryngectomy; however recurrence rates are relatively high. Techniques for early identification of recurrence or residual disease have therefore become crucial. Clinical diagnosis by laryngoscopy is problematic; radiotherapy induced laryngeal edema, which may persist for years, can mask local disease, resulting in detection at a late stage when total laryngectomy is unavoidable.