PET-2 overshadows the prognostic value of IPS and emerges as the single most important tool for planning of risk-adapted treatment in advanced HL.

Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) has been detected in adults but was recently suggested to be of brite/beige origin. We collected BAT from the supraclavicular region in 21 patients undergoing surgery for suspected cancer in the neck area and assessed the gene expression of established murine markers for brown, brite/beige, and white adipocytes. We demonstrate that a classical brown expression signature, including upregulation of miR-206, miR-133b, LHX8, and ZIC1 and downregulation of HOXC8 and HOXC9, coexists with an upregulation of two newly established brite/beige markers, TBX1 and TMEM26. A similar mRNA expression profile was observed when comparing isolated human adipocytes from BAT and white adipose tissue (WAT) depots, differentiated in vitro. In conclusion, our data suggest that human BAT might consist of both classical brown and recruitable brite adipocytes, an observation important for future considerations on how to induce human BAT.

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Purpose:18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is currently not used on a routine basis for imaging of neuroendocrine (NE) tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of FDG-PET in patients with NE tumors. Experimental Design: Ninety-eight prospectively enrolled patients with NE tumors underwent FDG-PET imaging. FDG uptake was quantified by maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax). The prognostic value of FDG uptake, proliferation index, chromogranin A, and liver metastases were assessed.Results: During the 1-year follow-up, 14 patients died. The diagnostic sensitivity of FDG-PET was 58% (n = 57) and a positive FDG-PET result was associated with a significantly higher risk of death with a hazard ratio (HR) of 10.3 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3-78.9]. Thirteen of the 57 (23%) FDG-PET-positive patients died compared with 1 of 41 (2%) FDG-PET-negative patients. By univariate analysis, a SUVmax of >9 and a high Ki67 index were significant predictors of overall survival with a HR of 8.8 (95% CI, 2.7-28.7) and a HR of 2.6 (95% CI, 1.3-5.1), respectively. In a multivariate analysis including a SUVmax of >3, Ki67, and chromogranin A, SUVmax of >3 was the only predictor of progression-free survival (HR, 8.4; P < 0.001).Conclusions: This study shows a strong prognostic value of FDG-PET for NE tumors, which exceeds the prognostic value of traditional markers such as Ki67, chromogranin A, and liver metastases. FDG-PET may obtain an important role for NE tumors. Clin Cancer Res; 16(3); 978-85. ©2010 AACR.

The use of PET-CT for preoperative staging of NSCLC reduced both the total number of thoracotomies and the number of futile thoracotomies but did not affect overall mortality. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00867412.)

The criteria developed for reporting in the RATHL trial are sufficiently robust to be used in a multicentre setting.

© F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o ncomparable, with different timing of the interim PET during the course of treatment and differing PET methodologies. Most studies used stand-alone PET, which has now been replaced by PET-CT. Reporting methods were not consistent making it difficult to judge how these results should be applied in clinical practice.In 2009 an international meeting attended by hematologists and nuclear medicine specialists was held in Deauville, France, with the intention of defining simple and reproducible criteria for interim-PET reporting in lymphoma.11 A five-point scale (5-PS) developed at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital in London was adopted 12 as the "Deauville criteria". An international study was launched to compare previous reports on the accuracy of interim PET in predicting treatment outcome in Hodgkin lymphoma with an international cohort of patients scanned using PET-CT after two cycles of ABVD and to evaluate the reproducibility of the 5-PS among reporters. The criteria for enrollment, the breakdown of patients according to stage (early unfavorable and advanced-stage) and the endpoints were the same as in the JID. Methods Retrieval of patients' dataConsecutive patients affected by Hodgkin lymphoma from participating centers worldwide diagnosed between January 2002 and December 2009 were retrospectively enrolled with the following inclusion criteria: (i) stage IIB to stage IVB or stage IIA Hodgkin lymphoma with adverse prognostic factors (at least three nodal sites involved, sub-diaphragmatic presentation, bulky disease, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate > 40 mm/h); (ii) treatment with four to eight cycles of ABVD with or without involved-field radiotherapy or consolidation radiotherapy; (iii) staging with PET/CT at baseline and after two courses of ABVD (PET-0 and PET-2, respectively); (iv) no change to treatment based on interim-PET results; and (v) a minimum follow-up of 1 year after completion of firstline treatment. Patients escalated to salvage treatment during ABVD chemotherapy were eligible only if the treatment change was based on clinical and/or radiological evidence of disease progression/resistance.The study was approved by the ethical committee of the coordinating center in Cuneo (Italy) and conducted according to the Helsinki declaration. Specific informed written consent was not required as all data were retrospectively collected in an anonymized format, in agreement with specific institutional and national requirements. AG, SC and ER analyzed the data and all co-authors had access to the primary data.Clinical data on 400 patients were collected; however only 335 paired scans (baseline and interim) were available for review. Of these, 75 were then excluded because there were no CT data (n=21), no baseline PET (n=25), no interim PET (n=1), missing CT slices (n=3), missing PET slices (n=10), poor quality PET images (n=6) or miscellaneous reasons (n=9). Complete data from 260 patients were available for analysis from 17 international academic institut...

Functional techniques are playing a pivotal role in the imaging of cancer today. Our aim was to compare, on a head-to-head basis, 3 functional imaging techniques in patients with histologically verified neuroendocrine tumors: somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) with 111 In-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acidoctreotide, scintigraphy with 123 I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), and 18 F-FDG PET. Methods: Ninety-six prospectively enrolled patients with neuroendocrine tumors underwent SRS, 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy, and 18 F-FDG PET on average within 40 d. The functional images were fused with low-dose CT scans for anatomic localization, and the imaging results were compared with the proliferation index as determined by Ki67. Results: The overall sensitivity of SRS, 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy, and 18 F-FDG PET was 89%, 52%, and 58%, respectively. Of the 11 SRS-negative patients, 7 were 18 F-FDG PET-positive, of which 3 were also 123 I-MIBG scintigraphypositive, giving a combined overall sensitivity of 96%. SRS also exceeded 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy and 18 F-FDG PET based on the number of lesions detected (393, 185, and 225, respectively) and tumor subtypes. 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy was superior to 18 F-FDG PET for ileal neuroendocrine tumors, and 18 F-FDG PET was superior to 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy for pancreaticoduodenal neuroendocrine tumors. The sensitivity of 18 F-FDG PET (92%) exceeded that of both SRS (69%) and 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy (46%) for tumors with a proliferation index above 15%. Conclusion: The overall sensitivity of 123 I-MIBG scintigraphy and 18 F-FDG PET was low compared with SRS. However, for tumors with a high proliferation rate, 18 F-FDG PET had the highest sensitivity. The results indicate that, although SRS should still be the routine method, 18 F-FDG PET provides complementary diagnostic information and is of value for neuroendocrine tumor patients with negative SRS findings or a high proliferation index.