The significance of PET-CT on staging in multiple myeloma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the staging significance of PET-CT in multiple myeloma, and to observe the relationship between baseline PET-CT and clinical parameters in multiple myeloma. Methods 78 cases newly diagnosed MM patients were selected from the Department of Hematology, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region people's Hospital from March 2007 to February 2014, with average age 61.24 years old. The levels of hemoglobin, albumin, beta 2 microglobulin and lactate dehydrogenase were detected before the treatment. PET-CT was performed to measure SUVmax in the spine, pelvis and rib with an average of the SUVmax in each case, and the number of FDG-avid focal lesions in every patient was counted. The difference of the SUVmax or FLS in different stages and the relationship between SUVmax or FLS and clinical parameters in MM were observed. Results All the patients were divided into 3 stages depending on ISS staging. The average SUV values in 10 cases of stage Ⅰ, 45 cases of stage Ⅱ and 23 cases of stage Ⅲ were 1.84±0.28, 3.74±0.42 and 6.02±0.93, respectively, and SUV values was significantly different among different groups (P<0.05). SUV values were positively correlated with levels of beta 2 microglobulin (r=0.862, P<0.001) and lactate dehydrogenase (r=0.592, P<0.001), and negatively correlated with albumin (r=-0.762, P<0.001) and hemoglobin levels (r=-0.685, P<0.001). The number of lesions had a correlation with low hemoglobin, high lactate dehydrogenase and high beta 2 microglobulin (P<0.05). Conclusion PET-CT can reflect tumor burden to some extent, and has the guiding significance for MM stage, which contributes to developing individualized treatment programs. Key words: Multiple myeloma; Positron emission tomography-computed tomography; Stage