Pilot study on the feasibility of PET/CT lymphoscintigraphy with Zr-89-nanocolloidal albumin for sentinel node identification in oral cancer patients

With conventional imaging techniques such as planar lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT/CT, preoperative sentinel node (SN) identification can be difficult when the SN is near the primary tumor, as is the case in floor-of-mouth carcinomas. PET/CT lymphoscintigraphy may improve the detection and localization of such SNs. Methods: In this study, the clinical feasibility of PET/CT lymphoscintigraphy using 89Zr-nanocolloidal albumin was evaluated in 5 oral cancer patients. PET/CT lymphoscintigraphy was performed after peritumoral injection of 89Zr-nanocolloidal albumin. The routine SN procedure, including SPECT/CT using 99mTc-nanocolloidal albumin, was performed on the same patients 7-9 d after the injection of 89Zr-nanocolloidal albumin. Results: Comparison of radiocolloid distribution on PET/CT and SPECT/CT showed identical drainage patterns. Moreover, PET/CT was able to identify additional foci near the primary tumor. Conclusion: This pilot PET/CT study on SN detection indicated that lymphoscintigraphy using 89Zr-nanocolloidal albumin is feasible.