Evaluation of chemotherapy response using technetium-99m-sestamibi scintigraphy in untreated adult malignant lymphomas and comparison with other prognosis factors: A preliminary report

The purpose of this study was to predict chemotherapy response using techne tium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc-MIBI) scintigraphy in untreated adul t malignant lymphomas (ML) and compare the response with of her prognosis f actors. Before chemotherapy, 25 adult patients with ML were enrolled in thi s study. Tc-MIBI scintigraphy was performed 10 min after intravenous inject ion of Tc-MIBI to calculate tumor-to-background (T/B) uptake ratio and inte rpret the results visually. Chemotherapy response was evaluated in the firs t 1 to 2 years after completion of treatment by clinical and radiological m ethods. The mean TIE uptake ratio of the 15 patients with good response (3. 3 +/- 0.6) was significantly higher than that of the 10 patients with poor response (1.2 +/- 0.1), All of the 15 patients with good response had posit ive Tc-MIBI scintigraphic results. All of the 10 patients with poor respons e had negative Tc-MIBI scintigraphic results, However, there were no signif icant differences in the incidences of good and poor responses For other pr ognosis factors. In our preliminary study, when compared with other prognos is factors, Tc-MIBI scintigraphy was the best tool to predict chemotherapy response in adult patients with ML. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.