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Incidental detection of oropharyngeal cancer with fluciclovine PET
Author(s) -
Jethanandani Amit,
Chen Melissa M.,
GuleMonroe Maria K.,
Morrison William H.,
Lai Stephen Y.,
Johnson Jason M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25798
Subject(s) - medicine , positron emission tomography , prostate cancer , adenocarcinoma , recurrent prostate cancer , cancer , radiology , pet imaging , lesion , nuclear medicine , pathology , prostatectomy
Background Fluorine‐18‐labeled 1‐amino‐3‐fluorocyclobutane‐1‐carboxylic acid (fluciclovine) is a synthetic amino acid radiopharmaceutical initially developed to improve noninvasive diagnosis of gliomas and currently FDA approved for prostate cancer imaging. Although fluciclovine positron emission tomography (PET) has proven to be efficacious in detecting multiple types of cancer, its ability to detect oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is largely unknown. Methods We describe a case of incidental OPSCC detection with fluciclovine PET in a 66‐year old male patient during workup for recurrent prostate adenocarcinoma. Results Fluciclovine PET detected a left base of tongue (BOT) lesion, which was subsequently confirmed as invasive SCC on surgical pathology. Conclusion Given these findings, we discuss potential future directions for research with fluciclovine to overcome some of the known limitations of 18 [F]fluorodeoxyglucose in oncological imaging.