Early Interim Chemotherapy Response Evaluation by F-18 FDG PET/CT in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) after one cycle of standard chemotherapy in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was assessed. Prospectively enrolled 51 patients had four PET/CT studies using the same protocol and system: at baseline and after one, three, and six cycles of chemotherapy (PET0, PET1, PET3, PET6). The PET1 and PET6 Deauville five-point score (D5PS) agreed in 60.8%, while PET3 and PET6 D5PS agreed in 90.2%. The absolute and percent changes of peak standard uptake value corrected for lean body mass (SULpeak) compared to baseline were significantly different between PET1 and PET3 (p = 0.001, p < 0.001) and PET1 and PET6 (p = 0.002, p = 0.001), but not between PET3 and PET6 (p = 0.276, p = 0.181). The absolute SULpeak from PET1 predicted treatment failure with accuracy of 78.4% (area under the curve 0.73, p = 0.023). D5PS, SULpeak, and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) were not statistically different between responders versus non-responders, or the one year disease-free versus relapse groups. D5PS and PERCIST responses showed 100% agreement at end-of-therapy. In conclusion, the responses after three and six cycles of therapy showed high degree of agreement. D5PS or MTV after one cycle of chemotherapy could not predict response or one-year disease-free status, but the SULpeak from PET1 was associated with response to first line therapy in DLBCL. Deauville and PERCIST criteria show high concordance.