The clinical value of the ⁹⁹Tc^m-MIBI scintigraphy in predicting the chemotherapy response of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of ⁹⁹Tc^m-MIBI scintigraphy in assessing the chemotherapy response, predicting prognosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Methods: Twenty patients underwent early (10 min) and delayed (120 min) ⁹⁹Tc^m-MIBI scintigraphy before and after chemotherapy. The early uptake rate (EUR), delay uptake rate (DUR), and washout rate (WR%) were calculated. Clinical response was assessed. The average follow-up time was 34 months. Results: After chemotherapy, 8 patients showed complete remission (CR) with ⁹⁹Tc^m-MIBI negative and 12 patients had positive imaging. 4 of them presented partial remission (PR), 2 were in stable disease (SD) and 6 were in progressive disease (PD). Patients were divided into two groups, 12 in partial or complete response (CR+PR) and 8 in stable or progressive disease (SD+PD) group. There was statistically difference in DUR before and after chemotherapy in all the 20 patients (2.9±1.2 vs. 1.2±0.7, P < 0.05). Before chemotherapy, the DUR was significantly higher in partial or complete response group than that in stable or progressive disease group (2.9±1.2 vs. 1.5±0.9, P < 0.05). The WR% was significantly lower in partial or complete response group than that in stable or progressive disease group (21.9±2.4 vs. 42.7±50.6, P < 0.05). After chemotherapy the DUR was significantly lower in partial or complete response group than that in stable or progressive disease group (1.0±0.2 vs. 2.0±0.3, P < 0.05). Conclusion: As a functional imaging, ⁹⁹Tc^m-MIBI scintigraphy is helpful in assessing the chemotherapy response and predicting prognosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (authors)