"Conventional imaging modalities--such as computed tomography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance tomography--determine response to therapy by changes in tumor size," said Ken Herrmann, resident with the nuclear medicine clinic at the Technical University in Munich, Germany. "However, changes in tumor proliferation may represent a more sensitive tool in differentiating non-responding tumors," added the co-author of "Change of Tumor Cell Proliferation During R-CHOP Chemotherapy of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) Measured by 18FLT PET." He indicated, "Our results need to be confirmed by future studies comprising a larger patient population and a variety of different therapy approaches."
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is one of some 35 different types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and it accounts for about 3 in 10 of all NHL cases. DLBCL can occur at any time between adolescence and old age, and it is slightly more common in men than in women. DLBCL, like NHL, is a cancer that starts in lymphoid tissues, which includes the lymph nodes and other organs that are part of the body's system for forming blood and protecting against germs. About 59,000 new cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are reported in this country annually, and almost 20,000 people will die from the disease this year.
In their study, researchers evaluated FLT PET to see if it "allows monitoring early response to therapy in patients with DLBCL lymphoma," said Herrmann. They monitored 17 patients who were treated with Rituximab immunotherapy combined with CHOP chemotherapy (R-CHOP), one of the most common chemotherapy regimens for treating NHL. Treatment with t
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Contact: Maryann Verrillo
mverrillo@snm.org
703-708-9000
Society of Nuclear Medicine
6-Jun-2006