Prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET-CT for indolent B-cell lymphoma: analysis of 98 cases

Abstract

Objective To investigate the value of the maximun standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in 18F-FDG PET-CT before treatment in predicting the survival outcomes of patients with indolent B-cell lymphoma (B-iNHL). Methods The clinical data were collected from 98 patients with B-iNHL diagnosed and treated in our hospital from January, 2012 to December, 2017. All the patients, including 43 with follicular lymphoma and 55 with nonfollicular lymphoma, underwent 18F-FDG PET-CT before treatment, and the correlation of SUVmax with the survival outcomes of the patients were analyzed. Results The median SUVmax was 6.8 (range 1.8-25.4) in the overall 98 patients with B-iNHL. The median SUVmax was significantly higher in patients with follicular lymphoma than those with nonfollicular lymphoma [7.8 (3.6-20.3) vs 5.3 (1.8-25.4)], P=0.001). According to the level of SUVmax, the 98 patients were divided into high SUVmax (> 7.25; n=39) group and low SUVmax (≤7.25; n=59) group, and univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a SUVmax > 7.25 was an independent risk factor that affected progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the patients (P < 0.05). Compared with those with low SUVmax before treatment, the patients with high SUVmax had a significantly lower 3-year estimated PFS rate (43.8% vs 85.9%, P < 0.05) and 3-year estimated OS rate (79.0% vs 98.3%, P < 0.05). Nine patients in high SUVmax group and 1 in low SUVmax group died, showing a significant difference in the mortality rate between the two groups (9/39 vs 1/59, 23.1% vs 1.7%, P=0.001). Conclusion SUVmax in 18F-FDG PET-CT is an independent risk factor affecting PFS and OS of the patients with B-iNHL and can be used as a predictor of the survival outcomes of the patients. indolent lymphoma B cells

Keywords

• indolent lymphoma b cells
• positron emission tomography/computed tomography
• suvmax