Head and neck tumors angiogenesis imaging with 68Ga-NODAGA-RGD in comparison to 18F-FDG PET/CT: a pilot study

Background Angiogenesis plays an important role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) progression. This pilot study was designed to compare the distribution of Ga-68-NODAGA-RGD PET/CT for imaging alpha(v)beta(3) integrins involved in tumor angiogenesis to F-18-FDG PET/CT in patients with HNSCC. Material and methods Ten patients (aged 58.4 +/- 8.3 years [range, 44-73 years], 6 males, 4 females) with a total of 11 HNSCC were prospectively enrolled. Activity mapping and standard uptake values (SUV) from both Ga-68-NODAGA-RGD and F-18-FDG PET/CT scans were recorded for primary tumor and compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The relation between the SUV of both tracers was assessed using the Spearman correlation. Results All HNSCC tumors were visible with both tracers. Quantitative analysis showed higher F-18-FDG SUVmax in comparison to Ga-68-NODAGA-RGD (14.0 +/- 6.1 versus 3.9 +/- 1.1 g/mL, p = 0.0017) and SUVmean (8.2 +/- 3.1 versus 2.0 +/- 0.8 g/mL, p = 0.0017). Both F-18-FDG and Ga-68-NODAGA-RGD uptakes were neither correlated with grade, HPV status nor p16 protein expression (p >= 0.17). Conclusion All HNSCC tumors were detected with both tracers with higher uptake with F-18-FDG, however. Ga-68-NODAGA-RGD has a different spatial distribution than F-18-FDG bringing different tumor information.