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. 2025 Mar 21;17(7):1065.
doi: 10.3390/cancers17071065.

Exploratory Study to Evaluate the Impact of Interim PET/CT Assessment in First-Line Follicular Lymphoma

María Poza  1 , Alejandro Martin-Muñoz  1   2 , Patricia López-Pereira  3 , Gloria Figaredo  4 , Irene Zamanillo  1 , Rodrigo Íñiguez  1 , Ana Carla Oliveira  3 , Tycho Baumann  1 , Antonia Rodríguez-Izquierdo  1 , Carlos Grande  5 , Pilar Sarandeses  6 , Enrique Revilla  7 , Montserrat Cortés  3 , Rosa Ayala  1 , María Calbacho  1 , Joaquín Martínez  1 , Santiago Barrio  1   8 , Ana Jiménez-Ubieto  1
Affiliations

Exploratory Study to Evaluate the Impact of Interim PET/CT Assessment in First-Line Follicular Lymphoma

María Poza et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether interim PET/CT (iPET) scans could identify follicular lymphoma (FL) patients at high risk of relapse following first-line therapy. Methods: A total of 117 FL patients who underwent iPET scans were included, with responses interpreted using the Deauville score (DS). Progression-free survival (PFS) was evaluated over a median follow-up of 34 months. Results: Overall, 34% of patients were classified as iPET (+), with significantly worse estimated 5-year PFS compared to iPET (-) patients (34% vs. 76%, hazard ratio 4.3, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed iPET (+) as an independent predictor of PFS. Conclusions: Interim PET results are significant predictors of PFS in FL first-line therapy and could inform response-adapted treatment strategies.

Keywords: PET/CT; follicular lymphoma 2; interim evaluation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Alejandro Martin-Muñoz, is an employee of Altum Sequencing Co. Rosa Ayala and Joaquín Martínez are equity shareholders of Altum Sequencing Co. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study profile. We included all patients diagnosed with follicular lymphoma grade 1–2 or 3A, who fulfilled the GELF criteria, were older than 18 years, required treatment, and underwent an iPET examination.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Progression-free survival rate according to risk scores (A) FLIPI, (B) FLIPI-2, and (C) PRIMA-PI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Progression-free survival rate according to interim Deauville scale (DS) at interim PET/CT. (B) Progression-free survival rate according to interim PET review (threshold DS ≥ 4).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Progression-free survival rate according to interim and EOT PET/CT: both evaluations negative, interim PET (+) and EOT PET (−), or both evaluations positive.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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