Clinical significance of the serum IL-2R level and Ga-67 scan findings in making a differential diagnosis between sarcoidosis and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the serum-soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) levels of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients and active sarcoidosis patients in relation to the (67)Ga scan findings.


METHODS
A total of 29 adenopathy patients suspected of having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or sarcoidosis were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent a whole-body (67)Ga scan and single-photon emission computed tomography studies 48 h after intravenous injection of (67)Ga citrate. The sIL-2R levels were compared between the sarcoidosis patients and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, the patients with and without the panda and/or lambda sign, the lymphoma patients with stage I/II disease and with stage III/IV disease, and the sarcoidosis patients and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with stage III/IV disease.


RESULTS
The range of the sIL-2R levels was 195-3750 U/ml in sarcoidosis and 240-62 300 U/ml in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The sIL-2R levels of the six non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with stage III/IV disease were significantly higher than those of the 15 sarcoidosis patients (P < 0.001). The sIL-2R levels of the sarcoidosis patients with the panda and/or lambda sign were significantly higher than those with neither sign (P < 0.005). The sIL-2R levels of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with stage III/IV disease were significantly higher than those of the patients with stage I/II disease (P < 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of sIL-2R levels was sometimes useful in differentiating between sarcoidosis and stage III/IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, staging non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and predicting the presence of the panda and/or lambda sign in sarcoidosis patients.
Kita
Tamotsu
T
Department of Radiology, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, 359-8513, Japan.
Watanabe
Sadahiro
S
Yano
Fuzuki
F
Hayashi
Katsumi
K
Yamamoto
Masayoshi
M
Iwasaki
Yoshie
Y
Kosuda
Shigeru
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005709:Gallium Isotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000097:blood*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D051598:Whole Body Imaging
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005709:Gallium Isotopes; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit