A Retrospective Study of Treatment Experience of Aggressive NonHodgkin Lymphoma: The Role of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Assessment of Response to Treatment

Abstract

on-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a common malignancy in adult. Positron emission tomography using F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG-PET) is considered an excellent tool for monitoring disease status in patients with lymphoma. The study included a total of 30 patients (14 males and 16 females, mean age 48.47 years with a pathologically proven aggressive NHL. The patients presented to Ain-Shams Center of Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Shams University and Nasser Institute for Research and Treatment between 2012 till 2014 with follow-up period from 6-18 months. The aim of study was to review and analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment results of aggressive NHL patients. The role of PET/CT in assessment of treatment response was studied. Clinical information was extracted from the medical records, including age, sex, methods of diagnosis, detailed pathology and imaging findings. All patients underwent physical examination, complete blood cell counts and blood chemistry, CT scans (cervical, thoracic, abdominal and pelvic), bone marrow biopsy; the majority of patients had diffuse large B cell subtype (93.3%) and to a lesser extent follicular lymphoma (3.3%) and T cell lymphoma (3.3%).