title: Positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F18-FDG) does not visualize extranodal B-cell lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-type.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  On the basis of promising data on the use of fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F18-FDG) whole body positron emission tomography (WB-FDG-PET) in the staging of patients with lymphoma, we initiated a pilot series to evaluate the role of WB-FDG-PET in the staging of extranodal B-cell lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined ten consecutive patients with histologically-verified MALT-type lymphomas of various origin before initiation of therapy. Nine patients had low-grade lymphomas (five cases of gastric lymphoma, two patients with lymphoma arising in the lung, one parotid and one lacrimal gland lymphoma), while one patient had a high-grade gastric lymphoma arising from a low-grade background. Two patients had stage EI, seven had stage EII disease, and one presented with stage EIII. WB-FDG-PET scans were performed 40 min following the injection of 300-380 MBq of F18-FDG. The PET scans were correlated with extensive conventional staging including ophthalmologic investigation, otolaryngologic examination, gastroscopy, endosonography, enteroclysis, colonoscopy, CT of thorax and abdomen, and bone marrow biopsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  WB-FDG-PET documented no lymphoma in any of the 10 patients studied, as no focal tracer uptake was demonstrated in either gastric or extragastric lesions or in involved lymph nodes, irrespective of histologic grading. In three patients the scan showed a false negative result with respect to the MALT lesions but showed focal tracer uptake indicating tumor spread, which, however, was ruled out by further follow-up and biopsy, respectively, and was thus rated false positive. Due to these results, the study was discontinued prematurely after the first ten patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These discouraging results indicated that WB-FDG-PET is not useful for staging and follow-up of MALT-type lymphoma, and should therefore not be included in the clinical decision making process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kletter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diemling
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Becherer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfeffel
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Petkov
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chott
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raderer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D018442:Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18