Abstract
According to the international working group response criteria for malignant lymphoma revised in 2007, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG-PET) combined with or without computed tomography (CT) is recommended for pre-treatment staging and response assessment among patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma. Recently, along with the widespread use of PET/CT, unexpected uptake and accumulation of 18FDG has been reported. Discussed in the present report are patients with malignant lymphoma and second primary carcinomas that were incidentally found by PET/CT. A total of 497 consecutive PET/CT were performed on 290 patients with malignant lymphoma in our institution from April 2008 through March 2010. Eight patients (2.8%) had pathologically confirmed second primary carcinomas consisting of 4 colon cancers, 3 lung cancers, and 1 pancreatic cancer. Two cases were diagnosed at the initial staging, and the others were detected after treatment for lymphoma. It is noteworthy that PET revealed high accumulations of 18FDG in 5 (62.5%) of the 8 patients without corresponding tumors in conventional CT. All of the 4 patients with colon carcinoma underwent curative surgery. The present study suggests that incidental findings by PET in malignant lymphoma can lead to early detection and successful treatment of second malignancies.
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Sato, K., Ozaki, K., Fujiwara, Si. et al. Incidental carcinomas detected by PET/CT scans in patients with malignant lymphoma. Int J Hematol 92, 647–650 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-010-0702-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12185-010-0702-x