Interim PET in lymphoma: a step towards standardization

Excerpt

In this issue, Barrington et al. propose well-defined criteria for interim PET/CT reporting in lymphoma [1]. These criteria, based on a five-point scale, introduce two main concepts which are highly relevant for interim PET analysis: (1) the intensity of the residual uptake frequently observed at interim is graded relative to various levels of reference background (RB)—mediastinal blood pool (MBP) and liver—and (2) this grading process is independent of the size of the residual tumour. Furthermore, the authors reported that this five-point scale assessed on a sample of 50 patients with advanced stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) by 4 pairs of experts from 4 European centres: (1) seems a reproducible tool for guiding therapeutic strategy after 2 cycles of ABVD (Adriamycin,bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) when liver is chosen as an RB and (2) is robust enough to be used in multicentre trials for interim PET reporting. …