EARLY DETECTION OF LYMPHOMA RECURRENCE WITH GA-67 SCINTIGRAPHY

Early detection of tumor relapse in lymphoma patients is often a diffi cult diagnostic problem. CT, which detects a mass, often cannot differ entiate between fibrosis or relapsed tumor. For this reason, we have s tudied the value of Ga-67 scintigraphy in the diagnosis of tumor recur rence. The sensitivity of Ga-67 scintigraphy in the detection of lymph oma recurrence was studied at an average interval of 8.7 mo following treatment in 32 patients who developed recurrent lymphoma. Its specifi city was studied in 36 patients with no recurrence who were in continu ous clinical remission. At the time of appearance of relapse, the sens itivity of whole-body Ga-67 imaging was 95% and the specificity 89%. I n 12 events of recurrence in 10 patients, Ga-67 scintigraphy was abnor mal at sites that later proved to be regions of relapse. In these pati ents, scintigraphy demonstrated recurrence an average of 6.8 mo before the appearance of clinical symptoms, findings on clinical examination or abnormality on CT or chest x-rays. Gallium-67 scintigraphy, which permits screening of the whole body for recurrence in a single study, was of particular value in evaluating lymphoma recurrence, since 27% o f the recurrences were located exclusively in sites different from the original sites of disease. Gallium-67 scintigraphy appears to be a se nsitive and specific test for restaging patients with lymphoma recurre nce.