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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Diagnostic and prognostic role of PET/CT in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and progressive disease

Leukemia volume 29, pages 1360–1365 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In order to evaluate the predictive value of positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET/CT) in discriminating the presence of a Richter’s syndrome (RS) or a second malignancy (SM), as well as to evaluate its prognostic value in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we retrospectively analyzed the data of 90 patients who, in the suspicion of a RS or a SM, underwent PET/CT followed by the biopsy of the involved tissue. The median maximum Standardized Uptake Value (SUVmax) in the presence of a CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma, a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), a SM were 3.5, 14.6, 7.0 and 6.3, respectively (P⩽0.0001). A SUVmax cutoff value ⩾5 showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 88.2, 71.2, 51.3 and 94%, respectively, for the presence of a more aggressive disease (DLBCL, HL and SM). A SUVmax ⩾5 identified also a subset of treatment naive patients with an inferior progression-free survival (P=0.011) and overall survival (P=0.067). These findings suggest that PET/CT may helpfully integrate the biologically-based prognostic stratification of CLL. Prospective clinical trials including larger cohorts of patients are needed to conclusively define the role and prognostic impact of PET/CT in the routine management of CLL patients.

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Author notes

  1. A Gallamini and R Foà: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    F R Mauro, M Campanelli, F Trastulli, A Guarini & R Foà

  2. Department of Medical Physics, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Croce e Carle, Cuneo, Italy

    S Chauvie & A Biggi

  3. Italian Group for Adult Hematologic Diseases (GIMEMA), Rome, Italy

    F Paoloni

  4. Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, Sapienza University Polo Pontino, Rome, Italy

    G Cimino & A Rago

  5. Hematology Section, Cosenza Hospital, Cosenza, Italy

    M Gentile & F Morabito

  6. Department of Hematology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    M Coscia & M Bellò

  7. Amedeo Avogadro University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy

    G M Sacchetti, D Rossi & G Gaidano

  8. Department of Hematology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy

    L Laurenti & F Autore

  9. SDN Foundation, Institute of Diagnostic and Nuclar Development, Naples, Italy

    E Nicolai

  10. Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    M Riminucci

  11. Department of Research and Medical Innovation, Antoine-Lacassagne Cancer Center, Nice, France

    A Gallamini

Authors
  1. F R Mauro
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  2. S Chauvie
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  3. F Paoloni
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  4. A Biggi
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  5. G Cimino
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  8. F Morabito
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  9. M Coscia
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  10. M Bellò
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  11. G M Sacchetti
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  12. D Rossi
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  13. L Laurenti
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  14. F Autore
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  15. M Campanelli
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  16. F Trastulli
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  17. E Nicolai
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  18. M Riminucci
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  19. G Gaidano
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  20. A Guarini
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  21. A Gallamini
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  22. R Foà
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F R Mauro.

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Competing interests

Chauvie S is co-founder of Dixit Ltd. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Mauro, F., Chauvie, S., Paoloni, F. et al. Diagnostic and prognostic role of PET/CT in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and progressive disease. Leukemia 29, 1360–1365 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2015.21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2015.21

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