Positron Emission Tomography in Patients Undergoing Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Prognostic Significance of Pre-transplant Positron Emission Tomography

commonly combined with computed tomography (CT), is widely used in the initial evaluation and response assessment of patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). Its sensitivity for nodal and extranodal sites of disease can add to the staging information obtained with CT alone, and PET is valuable in the response assessment at the end of front-line therapy because it can distinguish active disease from fibrosis in residual masses. In fact, the goal of front-line therapy is now a PET-negative complete remission (CR). Interim PET scan, performed during the initial course of therapy, may also have prognostic significance, and treatment adapted to interim PET results is under investigation in ongoing clinical trials.