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The article presents abstracts on medical topics including the involvement of bone marrow in Hodgkin lymphoma, the metabolic response in interim positron emission tomography (PET) during Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, and the outcome of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients with negative pretreatment PET scan.

18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) is a highly accurate staging method in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We retrospectively compared the staging results obtained in two large cohorts of patients with cHL diagnosed before ( n = 324) and after ( n = 406) the introduction of PET/CT staging in a retrospective study. In PET/CT staged patients, stage I disease was less frequent (16% vs. 27%, p < 0.001) while stage IV disease was more frequent (17% vs. 10%, p = 0.02). Imaging-detected skeletal involvement was recognized more often in PET/CT staged patients (17% vs. 2%, p < 0.001), and the presence of focal skeletal PET/CT lesions was associated with higher risk of progression (hazard ratio [HR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-3.36). The German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) risk classification (early, intermediate, advanced disease) predicted outcome in PET/CT staged patients. In conclusion, PET/CT led to higher disease stages, and the more frequently diagnosed skeletal lesions may be an adverse prognostic factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positron emission tomography using [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG-PET) is an important tool for staging and treatment response assessment in malignant lymphomas. In Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), FDG-PET precisely predicts the therapy response when performed very early during standard ABVD chemotherapy. However, it is unclear whether FDG-PET retains this role if therapy is changed as a consequence of the scan, or if performed during a more intensive chemotherapy regimen such as BEACOPPesc, which is used for HL. This brief review presents the up-to-date evidence for the use and interpretation of early interim FDG-PET in HL, including recent preliminary results on early interim FDG-PET during BEACOPPesc therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article notes the high incidence of treatment-related late morbidity and mortality among patients treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, and discusses efforts to identify patients in which treatment-related toxicity could be reduced by means of lower treatment intensity. Particular attention is given to a study that found a potential link between the intensity of the PET (positron emission tomography) in Hodgkin lymphoma and the expression of glucose transporters.

The article comments on a study on routine bone marrow biopsy for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) by S. Richardson and colleagues published in this journal. The study included 392 patients with HL, including 190 patients with advanced stage disease and 202 patients with early stage disease. The author observes that the result revealed that BMB should not be performed routinely in HL patients undergoing positron emission tomography staging.