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⁶⁷Ga Scintigraphy in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Correlation of ⁶⁷Ga Uptake with Histology and Transferrin Receptor Expression

Service de Médecine Nucléaire, Service d'Hématologie Biologique and Service d'Anatomie et de Cytologie Pathologique, Hôpital Avicenne, Bobigny, France

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Nadine Caillat-Vigneron, MD, Service Central de Médecine Nucléaire et de Biophysique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Avicenne, 125 route de Stalingrad, 93009 Bobigny, France.

ABSTRACT

⁶⁷Ga scintigraphy is routinely used in the management of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), but the heterogeneity of ⁶⁷Ga uptake in the different NHL histological subtypes has not been clearly explained. The transferrin receptors (TfR/CD71) play an important role in the mechanisms of ⁶⁷Ga uptake by tumor cells. However, the relationship between the ⁶⁷Ga uptake in NHL and the TfR/CD71 expression in lymphomatous cells remains to be defined. The aim of this study was to determine the intensity of ⁶⁷Ga uptake in different histological subtypes of B-cell NHL (B-NHL) and to compare this uptake with the expression of TfR/CD71 on lymphomatous cells. Methods: ⁶⁷Ga scintigraphy of 47 patients having histologically proven lymphomas was investigated. ⁶⁷Ga uptake was semiquantitatively evaluated in regions of interest and was reported as ⁶⁷Ga uptake index (GaUI). In all cases, biopsies were reviewed for classification of NHL. The expression of TfR/CD71 was determined on frozen sections and was semiquantitatively evaluated. The relationships between GaUI, histology and TfR/CD71 were investigated. Results: The values of GaUI were significantly related to the different histological subtypes analyzed (P = 0.0007) and to the presence of a large cells component, thus demonstrating that ⁶⁷Ga uptake rose with the grade of lymphoma. Moreover, the values of GaUI and TfR/CD71 were closely related in the tested cases (P = 0.0059). Conclusion: There were three factors influencing ⁶⁷Ga uptake in NHL: histology, TfR/CD71 expression and the presence of a large cells component. This justifies the usefulness of ⁶⁷Ga scintigraphy in staging the TfR/CD71-positive lymphomas.

Key Words: ⁶⁷Ga scintigraphy • non-Hodgkin's lymphoma • transferrin receptor CD71