Seventy FDG-PET/CT Cases in Which Nuclear Medicine Physicians Suspected Lymphoma: How Reliable Are We?

To validate the reliability of nuclear medicine physicians in diagnosing lymphoma using positron emission tomography/computed tomography using 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG-PET/CT) and to determine findings that reliably suggest lymphoma.

Seventy patients suspected of having lymphoma using FDG-PET/CT were enrolled in this retrospective study. Two nuclear medicine physicians read all the interpretation reports and graded the degree of suspicion by consensus (3: definitely suspicious, 2: probably suspicious, and 1: possibly suspicious). The following factors were also investigated for each patient: maximum standardized uptake value (SUV_max) of the lesions, serum level of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), and the presence of splenic FDG uptake higher than that of the liver.

The study group consisted of 34 lymphomas, 18 other malignancies, and 18 benign lesions according to histopathological diagnosis. No patient with a Grade 1 degree of suspicion was diagnosed as lymphoma. SUV_max and the serum level of sIL-2R could not distinguish lymphoma from other diseases. Of the 11 patients who presented with elevated splenic FDG uptake, 10 were diagnosed as having lymphoma.

When the degree of suspicion by nuclear medicine physicians is low, the possibility of lymphoma is also low. On the other hand, elevated splenic FDG uptake may suggest lymphoma.