Positron emission tomography with 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose in the staging and follow-up of lymphoma: Status quo and quo vadis

Positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F DG) is a noninvasive imaging technique that provides a fundamental advantag e by allowing the functional characterization of lymphoma tissue via the de tection of increased glycolysis, which is a typical sign for an active tumo r. Whole-body FDG-PET generates tomographic images of the entire patient an d shows the distribution of FDG throughout the body. There is growing evide nce that FDG-PET is more accurate in the staging of lymphoma patients compa red with conventional staging procedures. Several investigators have shown the potential of FDG-PET in the nodal staging, in the detection of extranod al lymphoma, as well as for bone marrow involvement. In lymphoma patients w ith residual masses after treatment, a negative PET result was associated w ith a high chance of complete remission. A whole-body FDG-PET-based staging and follow-up algorithm may be an accurate and cost-effective method for m onitoring lymphoma. In the future, immunoscintigraphic studies using FDG-PE T with radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies and studies on the pharmacokineti cs of cytostatic will follow, especially on the background of future treatm ents, such as gene therapy.