title: PET imaging in a longitudinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma study: association with tumor volume.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Computed tomography (CT) is generally used in the evaluation of the treatment response of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients. Instead of morphological images, positron emission tomography (PET) shows metabolic information that is connected to tumor activity, cell proliferation rate, and, thus, prognosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prognostic value of PET for tumor volume reduction measured by CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) along with clinical characteristics in NHL patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We imaged 21 B-cell type NHL patients using whole-body 18F-FDG-PET at the onset and the completion of treatment and at six-month follow-up. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) was calculated. Morphological tumor volume calculations were assessed using both MRI and CT. Additionally, patients underwent thorough clinical examination including several laboratory tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A high SUV(max) was able to predict significant tumor volume reduction at the beginning of treatment, but the relation to pure tumor volume was poor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SUV(max) values derived from FDG-PET seemed to correlate with volume changes but not with their absolute values or laboratory tests. Unlike MRI and CT, FDG-PET showed the disappearance of active tumors after treatment.
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Centre, Department of Radiology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. maija.rossi@pshp.fi
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Pasi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korkola
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pertovaara
authors.forename: Ritva
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Järvenpää
authors.forename: Prasun
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dastidar
authors.forename: Xingchen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soimakallio
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eskola
authors.forename: Pirkko-Liisa
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Kellokumpu-Lehtinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18