Evaluation of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer by Means of 99mTc-Glucarate

Preliminary findings have suggested that (99m)Tc-glucarate has tumor-seeking properties. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of this tracer to evaluate malignant head and neck tumors by means of SPECT/CT software fusion imaging. Eleven male patients with advanced head and neck carcinoma were included in the study: 9 with locally advanced disease and 2 with clinical suspicion of local relapse. Scanning started 3-6 h after the injection of 1,110 MBq of (99m)Tc-glucarate. Planar and SPECT images of the head, neck, and thorax were acquired. Three-dimensional images were also coregistered with CT. We found (99m)Tc-glucarate uptake in all suspected lesions. SPECT/CT fusion imaging was helpful in all cases for topographically localizing the tracer foci. (99m)Tc-glucarate can be considered a potential tracer for the evaluation of patients with head and neck tumors.