Global Quantitative Techniques for Positron Emission Tomographic Assessment of Disease Activity in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma and Response to Treatment

Global Quantitative Techniques for Positron Emission Tomographic Assessment of Disease Activity in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma and Response to Treatment Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDGPET) imaging has been suggested as a useful modality in staging, assessing response to treatment, and detecting disease recurrence in primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).1 Indices of FDG uptake include conventional measurements such as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) mean SUV (SUVmean) and global measurements such as global metabolic volume (GMV) and global lesion glycolysis (GLG). Some investigators support conventional metrics,2,3 while others have demonstrated greater value in global tumor measurements.4 Herein we present the cases of 2 patients with CTCL who had PET scans performed at baseline and follow-up in addition to the usual clinical and laboratory assessments. The FDGPET images were analyzed by ROVER software (ABX Advanced Biochemical Compounds GmbH), which is capable of measuring whole body disease burden by GMV and GLG. This software also measures SUVmax and SUVmean.