Ga-67 scintigraphy in lymphoma patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation

It is aimed to evaluate Gallium-67 scintigraphy (GS) and CT for predicting clinical outcome in lymphoma patients who undergo autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT). Forty patients undergoing ASCT, had GS before and at 100 days post-transplantation (D-100). Patients were followed for 6-61 months and 15 had repeat GS at 200 days post-transplantation (D-200). All patients underwent computed tomography (CT) imaging. Out of 40 patients, 15 were diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease and 25 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Fifteen had pathologic D-100 GS, where 7 were correlated with CT. Out of 8 patients with normal CT, 6 had control studies. Two patients returned to normal, 1 showed persistence and 3 were accepted in relapse due to progressive lesions on GS with new appeared lesions on CT. Four patients with pathologic findings on D-100 CT but normal GS, were in remission on follow-up. Of the patients 85.7% with negative and 28% with positive D-100 GS were disease-free (median followup: 30 months). The PPV, NPV and accuracy for GS were 64%, 88% and 77.5%, respectively, and 37.5%, 75% and 75% for CT, suggesting importance of D-100 GS in the prediction of outcome in lymphoma patients who undergo ASCT. GS is superior compared to CT for the prediction of progression. [Turk J Cancer 2007;37(2):54-58]