Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40688536›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2025

Maxillary sinus inflammation assessment using FDG-PET/CT in head and neck cancer patients with photon, proton, and combined radiation therapy.

Om H Gandhi, Andrew E Lee, Jaskeerat Gujral, Miraziz Ismoilov, Shashi B Singh, Mohanad Ghonim, Mohamad Ghonim, Min-Young Kim, William Y Raynor, Matthew J Case and 7 more

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Article in American journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Om H GandhiDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Andrew E LeeDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Jaskeerat GujralDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Miraziz IsmoilovDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Shashi B SinghDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Mohanad GhonimDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Mohamad GhonimDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Min-Young KimSchool of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
William Y RaynorDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Matthew J CaseMedical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Asad SiddiqiDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Fereshteh YazdanpanahDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Thomas J WernerDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Babak SabouryDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Mona-Elisabeth RevheimDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Yu-Cheng ChangDepartment of Periodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abass AlaviDepartment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHead and neck cancer (HNC) patients frequently develop post-radiation maxillary sinusitis. This study investigated how different radiation therapy (RT) modalities, photon, proton, and mixed photon/proton RT, affect maxillary sinus inflammation, using 2-[

methodsSeventy-seven HNC patients treated with RT (30 with photon, 20 with proton, and 27 with mixed photon/proton RT) underwent FDG-PET/CT imaging before and 3 months after treatment. Demographic information, tumor location, chemotherapy details, radiation dose (cGy), and post-radiation sinusitis ratings (scale 0-2) were collected. The mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of the maxillary sinus was measured by a radiologist with two years of experience using manually delineated regions of interest. Parametric paired t-tests were used to compare pre- and post-treatment SUVmeans for each RT modality. Pre-minus-post-treatment changes in SUVmean (ΔSUVmean) between RT modalities were compared using independent t-tests. Correlation between radiation dose and ΔSUVmean and correlation between ΔSUVmean and clinical sinusitis scores were assessed using Pearson correlation analysis.

resultsPhoton RT was associated with a statistically significant increase in maxillary sinus SUVmean post-treatment (+14.32%, P = 0.0324), while proton RT and mixed photon/proton RT did not result in significant changes (-3.39%, P = 0.6549 and -5.33%, P = 0.4541, respectively). A significant difference was found between photon and mixed photon/proton RT (P = 0.0444), whereas the difference between photon and proton RT approached significance (P = 0.0790). Clinical inflammation ratings were highest for photon therapy (average 0.97), followed by mixed therapy (0.78), then proton therapy (0.65), though these differences were not statistically significant.

conclusionOur findings demonstrate that photon RT leads to significant increases in maxillary sinus SUVmean as measured by FDG-PET/CT, while proton and mixed photon/proton RT do not show statistically significant changes. These preliminary results suggest that proton-based radiation modalities may be associated with reduced maxillary sinus inflammatory activity compared to photon RT alone, though larger studies with longer follow-up are needed to establish clinical significance and patient outcomes.

Indexed as

2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)Head and Neck Cancer (HNC)inflammationMaxillary sinusphoton therapypositron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)proton therapyradiation therapy

Identifiers

PMID40688536
PMCPMC12267090

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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.