Skip Navigation



Annals of Oncology Advance Access published online on June 10, 2008
Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdn282
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Elstrom, R. L.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, R. K. J.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Elstrom, R. L.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, R. K. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Combined PET and low-dose, noncontrast CT scanning obviates the need for additional diagnostic contrast-enhanced CT scans in patients undergoing staging or restaging for lymphoma

R. L. Elstrom1, J. P. Leonard1, M. Coleman1 and R. K. J. Brown2,*

1 Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma Weill Cornell Medical College and the New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
2 Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

* Correspondence to: Dr R. K. J. Brown, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, B1 G505 University Hospital, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 49109, USA. Tel: +1-734-936-2435; Fax: +1-734-936-8182; E-mail: rkjbrown{at}med.umich.edu

Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) is more accurate than computed tomography (CT) in staging and restaging of lymphoma, but both are considered necessary. Increasingly, PET is carried out with a low-dose CT scan. Many patients undergo both PET/CT and standard diagnostic CT. The clinical utility of performing both studies in patients with lymphoma was evaluated.

Patients and methods: Patients with lymphoma who underwent concurrent PET/CT and diagnostic CT (a scan pair) were identified, and findings detected in either scan but not both were documented. Discrepancies were considered significant if they were related to either lymphoma or another disease process which potentially required intervention.

Results: Eighty-seven scan pairs were identified. PET/CT detected additional lesions over diagnostic CT in 30 patients, of which 11 demonstrated increased clinical stage. Lymphoma therapy changed based on PET/CT in two patients, and one occult rectal cancer was detected. In contrast, diagnostic CT detected five relevant findings, including two incidental findings (venous thrombosis) and three patients with splenic lesions, none of which could be confirmed as lymphoma. No patient had change of stage or lymphoma therapy based on diagnostic CT.

Conclusion: In our series, diagnostic CT did not add value to staging or restaging of lymphoma when carried out concurrently with PET/CT.

lymphoma, PET/CT, staging

Received for publication February 17, 2008. Revision received April 7, 2008. Accepted for publication April 8, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.