Abstract
Positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET-CT) using 18F- fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is an essential part of the management of patients with lymphoma. Efforts to standardize PET acquisition and reporting, including the five-point ‘Deauville scale’, have enabled PET to become a surrogate for treatment success/failure in common lymphoma subtypes. This review summarizes the key evidence from clinical trials that supports PET-directed personalized approaches in lymphoma. PET-guided therapy has improved outcomes in Hodgkin lymphoma, using less chemotherapy and more selective radiotherapy. Attempts to intensify chemotherapy in aggressive NHL have however proved ineffective in patients treated with rituximab and chemotherapy. Trials are underway to determine whether PET can obviate the need for consolidation radiotherapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal B cell lymphoma. More recently, PET has been reported to be a reliable predictor of outcome in follicular lymphoma requiring treatment and prospective trials to test PET-guided therapy in this disease are anticipated.
- Copyright © 2017 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.