Prognostic value of interim and end-of-treatment FDG-PET in follicular lymphoma: a systematic review

This study aimed to systematically review the prognostic value of interim and end-of-treatment ¹⁸F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in follicular lymphoma during and after first-line therapy. The PubMed/MEDLINE database was searched for relevant original studies. Included studies were methodologically assessed, and their results were extracted and descriptively analyzed. Three studies on the prognostic value of interim FDG-PET and eight studies on the prognostic value of end-of-treatment FDG-PET were included. Overall, studies were of poor methodological quality. In addition, there was incomplete reporting of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) data by several studies, and none of the studies incorporated the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) in the OS analyses. Two studies reported no significant difference in PFS between interim FDG-PET positive and negative patients, whereas one study reported a significant difference in PFS between the two groups. Two studies reported no significant difference in OS between interim FDG-PET positive and negative patients. Five studies reported end-of-treatment FDG-PET positive patients to have a significantly worse PFS than end-of-treatment FDG-PET negative patients, and one study reported a non-significant trend towards a worse PFS for end-of-treatment FDG-PET positive patients. Three studies reported end-of-treatment FDG-PET positive patients to have a significantly worse OS than end-of-treatment FDG-PET negative patients. In conclusion, the available evidence does not support the use of interim FDG-PET in follicular lymphoma. Although published studies suggest end-of-treatment FDG-PET to be predictive of PFS and OS, they suffer from numerous biases and failure to correct OS prediction for the FLIPI.