Evaluating 18F-FDG PET/CT With Liver SUVmax-based Criteria for Prognosis of Patients With Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

Evaluating Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography /Computed Tomography With Liver SUVmax-based Criteria for Prognosis of Patients With Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a semi-quantitative interpretation using the liver SUVmax as reference can better interpret 18F-FDG PET/CT and predict disease progression during chemotherapy or survival in DLBCL.

In this study investigators develope a semi-quantitative interpretation using the liver SUVmax as reference to interpret 18F-FDG PET/CT. Positive lesions in PET were indicated as SUVmax of residues higher than the threshold (1.6 fold of liver SUVmax) or new 18F-FDG avid lesions. Investigators compare the prognostic accuracy of the liver SUVmax-based criteria with the 5-PS criteria and ΔSUVmax interpretation with respect to predicting disease progression during chemotherapy or survival in DLBCL. Furthermore,investigators improve the prognostic ability of interim PET/CT by comparing the results to the clinical prognostic factors.

Inclusion Criteria:

• newly diagnosed DLBCL
• treated using an anthracycline-containing regimen with or without rituximab
• minimal follow-up at 6 months after the completion of first-line treatment
• complete medical history and clinicopathological data

Exclusion Criteria:

• secondary malignant disease
• serious infection or inflammation (e.g., HIV)
• primary central nervous system lymphoma
• hepatic or renal dysfunction.