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Posted by on Oct 14, 2017 in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 0 comments

In a nutshell

This study looked at how well 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) scans can determine future patient outcomes for patients with relapsed or difficult to treat mantle cell lymphoma. The study concluded that 18F-FDG PET scans can determine future patient outcomes, and negative PET scans indicate positive outcomes. 

Some background

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is usually aggressive and relapses are common. Patients usually have poor outcomes after they relapse. 18F-FDG PET scans have been used for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma to determine whether they are likely to respond to treatment.

18F-FDG PET scans inject a substance that binds to cells that are using a lot of energy (such as cancer cells). A positive 18F-FDG PET scan means there is still cancer in the body. A negative 18F-FDG PET scan means there is no detectable cancer. It is unclear if 18F-FDG PET scans can be as effective for MCL as they are for Hodgkin lymphoma. 

Methods & findings

45 patients were enrolled in this study. All patients received bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) treatment for MCL. 32 patients had complete 18F-FDG PET data available. Patients were scanned both before and after BR treatment.

All patients had a positive scan before treatment. 75% of patients achieved a complete metabolic response (CMR; no detectable cancer on 18F-FDG PET scan) after treatment.

Patients with a CMR after treatment had a 1-year progression free survival rate (time from treatment to disease progression) of 91.5%. Patients without a CMR after treatment had a 1-year progression free survival rate of 12.5%.

Patients with a CMR after treatment had an average of 20.6 months before any relapse or negative outcome. Patients without a CMR after treatment had an average of 7.8 months before any relapse or negative outcome. 

The bottom line

The authors concluded that 18F-FDG PET scans are good predictors of future patient outcomes, and patients with negative 18F-FDG PET scans after treatment have significantly better outcomes than patients with positive 18F-FDG PET scans after treatment. 

Published By :

Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine

Date :

Jan 01, 2017

Original Title :

18F-FDG PET for Measurement of Response and Prediction of Outcome to Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma Therapy with Bendamustine-Rituximab.

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