The Role Of PET/CT In Diagnosis And Treatment Strategy Of Malignant Lymphoma

Malignant lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms of the lymphoid system. Their treatment and prognosis, aside from other factors, depends on precise staging and assessment of the treatment efficacy. In comparison to the classical standard diagnostic procedure, x-ray computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F fluoro deoxy-glucose (18FDG) and combined PET/CT, as functional-metabolic imaging methods, have significantly higher sensitivity and specificity for the detection of pathological changes especially in aggressive types of malignant lymphomas. Current international guidelines for response criteria incorporated PET and PET/CT as routine imaging modalities and strongly recommend their use in Hodgkin's lymphoma and aggressive subtypes of non-Hodgkins lymphomas for initial staging and verification of the disease remission. The benefit of PET and PET/CT in early mid-treatment re staging, their influence on long-term disease remission and overall patient survival has to be confirmed by ongoing clinical trials. (author)