Background: There is a correlation between (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake and the level of intracellular metabolic tumor activity, which in turn may be associated with active proliferation, invasion, and prognosis as well as distant metastases in head and neck cancer. This study was designed to assess whether tumor uptake of FDG positron emission tomography (PET) expressed as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) can be used to predict survival in subjects with paranasal sinus malignancy.
Methods: We enrolled 42 consecutive subjects with a histological diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma in paranasal sinus malignancy, into a retrospective institutional imaging trial. Thirty-eight subjects (90.5%) underwent a baseline FDG-PET scan before curative treatment and were eligible for analysis.
Results: A total of 38 subjects with paranasal sinus malignancy undergoing PET/computed tomography imaging in the initial stages were assessed separately for a potential correlation between SUVmax and T staging, histological grading, and overall survival. Log-rank testing revealed a significant correlation between overall survival and histological grading (p = 0.046); and there was some correlation between SUVmax and histological grading, but not significantly different. The receiver operation characteristic curve was identified for cutoff value of SUVmax as a prognostic factor. We compared the low tumor of the SUVmax group with the high tumor of the SUVmax group divided by the cutoff value of SUVmax. We did find a significant correlation between SUVmax and disease control and mortality (p = 0.003, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: In our study, we concluded that subjects with higher tumor FDG uptakes should be considered for a more aggressive disease.