Exploring hypoxia in head and neck cancer through blood perfusion and metabolism using dual-energy computed tomography and positron emission tomography.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Hypoxia for head and neck cancer (HNC) can be imaged with positron emission tomography (PET) using ¹⁸F-Fluoroazomycin-arabinoside (FAZA) but is not used routinely. In contrast, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET visualizing tumor metabolism is routinely used in radiotherapy (RT) of HNC patients. Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) can generate an iodine concentration (IC) map visualizing the perfused blood volume. Here, we explore how hypoxia can be classified for HNC using a PET derived FDG and a DECT derived IC metric.

Materials and methods

Corresponding DECT, FAZA, and FDG PET/CT for 6 HNC patients before and during RT were acquired. A FAZA tumor-to-muscle (TMR) ratio ≥1.2 was used for hypoxic classification. Within the gross tumor volume (G

SUBMITTER: Edmund J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12395511 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature