Site Editors
Shaji K. Kumar, MD
Prashant Kapoor, MD, FACP
Shaji K. Kumar, MD
Prashant Kapoor, MD, FACP
Posted: Monday, June 27, 2022
Imaging with PET/CT provides valuable prognostic information for patients with multiple myeloma in first-line therapy and may be useful in identifying patients with a poor prognosis in relapsed multiple myeloma. Rainer Haas, MD, of Heinirich Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany, and colleagues specifically evaluated the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG)-PET/CT to predict patient survival. These results were published in BMC Medical Imaging.
“The use of 18F-FDG-PET/CT, especially in combination with established clinical parameters, may thus help to select high-risk patients with multiple myeloma relapse who may benefit from aggressive treatment approaches,” concluded the authors.
This study retrospectively analyzed 36 patients with multiple myeloma who had received autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation and had experienced at least one relapse. Patients in this study underwent FDG-PET/CT imaging at the time of relapse. Factors such as the number of focal bone lesions, maximal standardized uptake value, and presence of PET-positive extramedullary lesions were evaluated.
The study population had a median follow-up of 37.9 months, and the median overall survival of the entire population was 16.3 months. At the time of relapse, 72.2% of the population had a positive PET scan, including 14 patients with intramedullary disease and 10 with both intra and extramedullary lesions. As for PET-positive focal bone lesions, the presence of more than three lesions was a negative predictor for progression-free survival (3.5 months vs. 15 months, P < .001). The median overall survival for patients with a maximal standardized uptake value of four or less was not reached, and it was 3.9 months in those with an uptake value greater than four (P = .014). Patients with extramedullary disease had a median overall survival of 3.6 months, and those without had an overall survival that was not yet reached (P = .004).
Disclosure: The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
