title: Decisional early interim (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography after two cycles of chemotherapy in de novo Hodgkin lymphoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An early evaluation with positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has been demonstrated to be a valuable tool in the prediction of Hodgkin lymphoma's outcome. Herein we report a retrospective study on the outcome of Hodgkin lymphoma treated in accordance with interim FDG-PET results.
  
  
  METHODS
  48 patients with de novo Hodgkin lymphoma were treated with 2 cycles of chemotherapy. According to the interim FDG-PET (PET2) evaluation, pre-established treatment was continued if PET2 was considered negative. Patients with a positive PET2 result underwent a salvage therapy. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were chosen as end points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PET2 scan results were negative for 37 patients and positive for 11 patients. After salvage therapy, 7/11 patients were in complete remission and 4 patients had stable disease and were considered for third-line therapy. After a median follow-up of 5.2 years, 46 patients were still alive. The 4-year PFS were 84.5 and 45.4% for PET2-negative and PET2-positive patients, respectively (p = 0.007). In multivariate analysis, PET2 scan and extranodal disease remained relevant on PFS (p = 0.001 and 0.009, respectively). No difference was seen in OS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our retrospective study suggests that salvage therapy for non-responder Hodgkin lymphoma using interim FDG-PET could improve the PFS of this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Cellular Therapy, Bretonneau University Hospital, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iltis
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eder
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Blasco
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colombat
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sénécal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011859:Radiography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18