Purpose To investigate the relationship between maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of 18F-FDG PET/CT and clinical features of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC),in order to provide better PET/CT results for clinical guide.Materials and Methods Fifty-two patients with pathologically confirmed TSCC who accepting PET/CT examination before surgery were retrospectively analyzed.Single-factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted on possible factors influencing primary tumor SUVmax,including gender,age,smoking history,tumor location,tumor size,TNM stage,T stage and N stage.Results Single-analysis showed that SUVmax was correlated with gender,tumor location,tumor size,TNM stage,T stage and N stage (P＜0.05),and was not correlated with tumor differentiation,smoking history and age (P＞0.05).Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that gender,tumor location,tumor size,T stage and N stage were independent influencing factors of primary tumor SUVmax (P＜0.05).Primary tumor SUVmax had predictive value for lymph node metastasis.When the cutoff value was 6.57,the diagnostic efficiency was the highest,the sensitivity was 79.2％ and the specificity was 85.7％.Conclusion TSCC 18F-FDG PET/CT SUVmax is higher among male patients with tongue base tumor location,larger tumor size and lymph node metastasis.Primary tumor SUVmax is of important significance in predicting lymph node metastasis.

Purpose To investigate the application value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis and staging of tongue cancer,in order to improve the accuracy of preoperative staging.Materials and Methods The 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of 52 patients with pathologically confirmed tongue cancer were retrospectively analyzed.The tumor location,size,FDG metabolic characteristics and tumor staging were observed,and compared with postoperative pathology.Results PET/CT showed that most patients were at middle or late stage when initially diagnosed (28/52).The lesions were mostly located on middle or middle-back region of tongues,and the average SUVmax was 6.81 ± 3.81.The sensitivity of PET/CT diagnosing tongue cancer was 94.2％.There was no significant difference in SUVmax between high,medium-high and medium differentiated tongue cancer primary lesions (P＞0.05).The SUVmax of tongue cancer at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ was obviously higher than that at stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.008).The diagnose and staging of tongue cancer using preoperative PET/CT and postoperative pathology were in excellent consistence (Kappa=0.859,P＜0.01).The staging accuracy reached 90.4％ (47/52).Conclusion Higher SUVmax value indicates worse tongue cancer staging,but it is of little significance in predicting differentiation.PET/CT can provide an objective imaging basis for preoperative diagnosis and accurate staging of tongue cancer.