Page 248 - 18F-FDG PET as biomarker in aggressive lymphoma; technical and clinical validation

Chapter 9
treatment [18F]FDG PET in DLBCL has recently started, aiming to optimize and/or develop criteria to improve the PPV without affecting the high NPV using the PETRA database. Recently, a new PETRA project on artificial intelligence for [18F]FDG PET response prediction in DLBCL started funded by the “Hanarth Fonds”. Finally, new research initiatives from other consortium members are currently proposed and investigated.
Conclusion
This thesis evaluated the role of [18F]FDG PET as a biomarker in aggressive lymphoma by both technical and clinical validation. It can be concluded that the role of [18F]FDG PET in treating aggressive lymphoma patients has clearly grown in the past years. Next to the role of [18F]FDG PET for the baseline staging and end-of-treatment response assessment in aggressive lymphoma, the value of interim [18F]FDG PET has become clearer. We validated that interim [18F] FDG PET has a high negative predictive value (>80%) when using Deauville- and ∆SUVmax criteria for good response prediction in DLBCL. This has led to the inclusion of interim [18F]FDG PET guided treatment de-escalation in the current Dutch guidelines for DLBCL.
246