Phase II Trial: uPAR-PET/CT for Prognostication in Head- and Neck Cancer

Overview

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the 6th most common cancer worldwide. In the last decade, there has been made substantial improvements in diagnosis, staging and treatment of HNC. The overall survival has improved, but for some subgroups it is unchanged and therefore new prognostic and surveillance methods are warranted. One of the hallmarks in cancer is the ability to invade the surrounding tissue and metastasize. Studies have shown that the urokinase proteolytic plasminogen activator (uPA) and its receptor (uPAR) are present at the very front of the invasive tumor and they are considered essential in cancer invasion and metastasis. Consequently, an uPAR-targeted tracer offers a very promising target for functional PET imaging and may be a stronger prognostic marker compared to routine FDG-PET/CT. We wish to clarify how uPAR-PET/CT correlate to patient outcome compared to routine FDG-PET/CT in patients with HNC in the pharynx, larynx and oral cavity, who are referred to curative intended radiotherapy. In this project all participants have an uPAR-PET/CT scan performed before initiation of the routine radiotherapy and the prognostic efficacy is determined by assessment of the recurrence rate and mortality at routine clinical follow-up.

Drug / Compound

Eligibility