A 18F-FDG-positive, 67Ga-negative, and transferrin receptor expression-negative patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

We recently experienced a case with uveitis suffering from fever of unknown origin suspected of being caused by sarcoidosis. Chest computed tomography showed right supraclavicular, bilateral mediastinal, and right hilar lymphadenopathy, and intensive abnormal uptake of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) was observed on positron emission tomography with 18F-FDG (FDG-PET). On the other hand, 67Ga scintigraphy showed almost no abnormal findings. Histopathological examination revealed the lesion to be a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), namely, an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma from a right supraclavicular lymph node biopsy specimen. Additional immunohistochemical analysis showed the negative expression of transferrin receptor (TfR) on the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimen. Although DLBCL is generally considered to be a 67Ga-avid tumor, it does not always have a large number of TfRs and that leads to a discrepancy between the 67Ga scintigraphy and FDG-PET findings. FDG-PET should be more appropriate for the initial staging of DLBCL than 67Ga scintigraphy, whereas 67Ga scintigraphy might be able to provide additional information including prognostic factors and to support strategies that target TfR for cancer therapy.