18F‐FDG‐PET/CT imaging in diagnostic workup of pediatric precursor B‐cell lymphoblastic lymphoma

Abstract

Abstract18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose‐positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging is currently not used in standard diagnostics for B‐cell precursor lymphoblastic lymphoma (BCP‐LBL), and it is unknown whether PET/CT imaging would lead to agreement between detection of lesions with the gold standard imaging methods. Therefore, we performed a retrospective cohort study in which we included 32 pediatric BCP‐LBL patients and determined localizations by reviewing local imaging reports. There was a disagreement between protocol‐based imaging and PET/CT in 59% of the patients, and the discrepancies mostly comprise of additional lesions detected with PET/CT, typically in lymph node and bone or the absence of bone marrow involvement with PET/CT. If PET/CT was leading in determining definite stage of disease, this would lead to a different stage and therapy branch in 31% and 28% of the patients, respectively.