Prognostic role of baseline ¹⁸ F-FDG pet/CT in squamous cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinuses

Background: To retrospectively investigate the prognostic role of baseline ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the paranasal sinuses.

Methods: Clinical features and PET/CT semiquantitative parameters of 49 patients were collected. Anova and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used to assess the relationship between these parameters. Kaplan-Meier, univariate, and multivariate analysis were performed to search for independent prognostic factors for progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results: Mean PFS was 29.95 months (SD 29.36) with relapse/progression of disease occurring in 18 patients; mean OS was 33.40 (SD 27.78) months with death occurring in 15 patients. Presence of nodal metastasis (14 subjects) was correlated with standardize uptake value (SUV) max, SUVmean, SUV/blood-pool ratio, SUV/liver ratio, metabolic tumor volume, and total lesion glycolysis. SUVmax, SUVmean, and presence of nodal metastasis resulted as independent prognostic factors for OS.

Conclusion: ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT semiquantitative parameters confirmed their prognostic role for SCC of paranasal sinuses.