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Additional PET/CT scans failed to provide clinical benefit in head, neck cancer
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Patients with head and neck cancers who had 3-month PET/CT scans experienced similar survival outcomes as patients who had subsequent scans, according to results of a 10-year retrospective analysis.
The benefit of a further PET/CT scan beyond a 3-month follow-up scan is unknown, researchers wrote. In the current study, investigators evaluated PET/CT scans at 12 and 24 months.
The study included 536 patients, 284 of whom had 3-month scans, 175 of whom had 3- and 12-month scans, and 77 of whom had scans at all three time points.
The detection rate for PET/CT scans in clinically occult patients was 9% at 12 months. The rate was 4% in the 24-month group.
The researchers reported no difference in outcomes between scan-detected and clinically detected recurrences. The 3-year DFS was 41% in the scan group and 46% in the clinical group (P=.91). Three-year OS results also were statistically similar (60% for scanning vs. 54% for clinical detection; P=.70).
The researchers reported fewer unequivocal reads in the 12-month PET/CT group than in the 3-month PET/CT group (10% vs. 26%; P<.001).
Six percent of scans deemed equivocal, ultimately, were found to be positive, according to the results.
“[Head and neck cancer] patients with negative 3-month imaging appear to derive limited benefit from subsequent PET/CT surveillance,” the researchers concluded.
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