Diagnostic performance of [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the evaluation of treatment response to induction chemotherapy followed by definitive chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Recently, functional imaging such as fluorine-18 fludeoxyglucose integrated with computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) or difusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) represent an area of highly active research in oncology. DW-MRI is an advanced imaging modality that records the molecular diffusion of protons to further assess tissue carácter, providing the opportunity to differentiate post-treatment tumour recurrence from chemoradiotherapy-induced local tissue changes (1). In the case of PET/CT, besides providing useful diagnostic information regarding pretreatment staging (2,3) and post-treatment follow-up (4), intensity of FDG uptake is emerging as a valuable predictive factor regarding treatment outcome (5).