Predictive value of 18F-FDG PET/CT before or after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the clinical outcome of patients with non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the predictive value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT before or after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Auto-HSCT) in patients with non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma (NHL). Methods Fifty-eight NHL patients who underwent PET/CT scan before or after Auto-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed. Between June 2007 and May 2016, 40 patients (32 males, 8 females; median age 39 years) underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT pre-transplantation, and 34 patients (23 males, 11 females; median age 34 years) underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT post-transplantation. There were 16 patients underwent both pre- and post-transplantation imaging. PET/CT results were categorized as positive or negative according to the standard response criteria. The predictive value of PET/CT was evaluated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank test. Three-year PFS and OS of different groups were compared with Fisher exact test. Results (1)18F-FDG PET/CT before Auto-HSCT: PFS of patients in PET/CT negative group (n=27) and positive group (n=13) were significantly different (χ2=4.187, P 0.05). (2)18F-FDG PET/CT after Auto-HSCT: PFS and OS of patients in PET/CT negative group (n=18) and positive group (n=16) were significantly different (χ2 values: 15.430, 7.726, both P<0.01). The 3-year PFS and OS of the 2 groups were 8/10 vs 2/12(P=0.005) and 8/10 vs 4/12 (P=0.038), respectively. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT before or after Auto-HSCT could provide prognostic information for NHL patients. Key words: Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Prognosis; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose