SynthesisEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2011
Diagnostic performance of post-treatment FDG PET or FDG PET/CT imaging in head and neck cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 148 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
148 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Routine restaging after primary non-surgical treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma-a review.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2021Pooled it
- FDG-PET/CT for treatment response assessment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic performance.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2018Pooled it
- Prognostic value of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Oncotarget · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Management of neck metastases in head and neck cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines.The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2016Guideline
- Recurrent head and neck cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines.The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2016Guideline
- The lack of evidence for PET or PET/CT surveillance of patients with treated lymphoma, colorectal cancer, and head and neck cancer: a systematic review.Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2013Pooled it
- Radiomics in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: state of the art.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2026Review
- PET Imaging in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: from Staging to Response Assessment.Current oncology reports · 2026Review
- Development of a Prototype AWSM-PET Device for Augmented Whole-Body PET Imaging and Initial Human Study.Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2026Article
- [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Prognostic significance of intermediate and high SUVmax values and imaging timing on FDG-PET/CT after radiation therapy in HNSCC: a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Article
- Circulating biomarkers in HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer: Clinical applications of liquid biopsy in diagnosis, prognosis, and surveillance.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2025Review
- Circulating Tumour DNA as a Complementary Tool for Treatment Evaluation in HPV-Associated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Observational Cohort Study.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2025Observational
- Evaluating Clinical Factors Including HPV Clearance on Survival Outcomes in HPV+ Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.Cancers · 2025Article
- Article
- Impact of postoperative fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography on adjuvant head and neck cancer treatment.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2025Article
- FAPI-positron emission tomography for radiotherapy in head and neck cancer: applications and future directions.Physics and imaging in radiation oncology · 2025Review
- Integrative Analysis ofMolecular imaging and biology · 2025Article
88 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeOur objective was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the diagnostic performance of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) with or without computed tomography (CT) in post-treatment response assessment and/or surveillance imaging of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
methodsA systematic search of the indexed medical literature was done using appropriate keywords to identify relevant studies. Metrics of diagnostic test accuracy, viz. sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were extracted from individual studies and combined using a random effects model to yield weighted mean pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The impact of timing of post-treatment scan, study quality and advancements in PET technology was explored through meta-regression.
resultsA total of 51 studies involving 2,335 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The weighted mean (95% CI) pooled sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of post-treatment FDG PET(CT) for the primary site was 79.9% (73.7-85.2%), 87.5% (85.2-89.5%), 58.6% (52.6-64.5%) and 95.1% (93.5-96.5%), respectively. Similar estimates for the neck were 72.7% (66.6-78.2%), 87.6% (85.7-89.3%), 52.1% (46.6-57.6%) and 94.5% (93.1-95.7%), respectively. Scans done ≥ 12 weeks after completion of definitive therapy had moderately higher diagnostic accuracy on meta-regression analysis using time as a covariate.
conclusionThe overall diagnostic performance of post-treatment FDG PET(CT) for response assessment and surveillance imaging of HNSCC is good, but its PPV is somewhat suboptimal. Its NPV remains exceptionally high and a negative post-treatment scan is highly suggestive of absence of viable disease that can guide therapeutic decision-making. Timing of post-treatment imaging has a significant, though moderate impact on diagnostic accuracy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.