Impact of Treatment Modality on Post-Radiation Imaging in Post-Operative Head and Neck Cancers

摘要: Purpose/Objective(s)Despite frequent dosimetric advantages to proton therapy over photon therapy in head and neck (H&N) cancers, there is concern for end of range biologic dose enhancement and subsequent increased mucosal toxicity with proton therapy. Herein, we evaluated differences in mucosal FDG avidity on post-treatment FDG PET-CTs between proton and photon therapy patients, as persistent activity is a surrogate for residual mucosal toxicity.Materials/MethodsThe cohort comprised ten proton and ten photon patients who received ≥40 Gy to a mucosal oropharyngeal site with curative intent after initial surgery and who remained loco-regional disease free ≥6 months post-treatment. All patients underwent follow-up PET-CT scans 3 months post-radiotherapy. Images centered over the treated primary were acquired 60 minutes after intravenous administration of 10 mCi of FDG. CT-based attenuation …