Role of 67 Ga scintigraphy in localization of lymphoma

Abstract

This review deals with the applications of 67Gallium (Ga) scintigraphy for the initial staging and follow-up during and after treatment of patients with Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). During the last decade, the technique of visualization has been largely improved by using higher doses and additional tomography. Here, the indications for 67Ga scintigraphy in comparison with CT and MRI are discussed. The conditions resulting in false positive and false negative results have been outlined. 67Ga may detect unusual involved sites during staging procedures. However, the major contribution to the management of Hodgkin's disease and NHL is the evaluation of residual masses, because 67Ga uptake reflects the metabolic activity of the tumor. The review ends with an additional short overview of other radionuclide imaging methods useful for malignant lymphoma.

18FDG positron emission tomography versus 67Ga scintigraphy as prognostic test during chemotherapy for non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma

“…Additional baseline scans would have been useful but, before this study, it was anticipated that this would compromise patient compliance as neither procedure is standard for staging in our clinical setting. Moreover, 67 Ga scintigraphy does not contribute to conventional clinical staging (van Amsterdam et al , 1996; Bonomo et al , 1997). This is not necessarily the case for 18 FDG PET (Moog et al , 1998; Buchmann et al , 2000).…”

Medical Applications and Toxicities of Gallium Compounds

“…Hence, a positive 67 Ga scan after treatment of lymphoma generally indicates the presence of residual malignancy and the need for further therapy. The intensity of 67 Ga uptake by malignancies such as lymphoma correlates with their proliferative rate; 67 Ga scanning thus provides a valuable insight into the aggressiveness of a tumor [12]. Gallium may also be taken up by macrophages and thus, areas of inflammation may show 67 Ga-positivity on the 67 Ga scan.…”

Importância da cintilografia com gálio-67 no linfoma cutâneo primário de células B: relato de dois casos

“…However, in spite of computed tomography being the method of choice in these cases, the presence of a post-chemotherapy residual mass or small-sized lymph nodes infiltration constitute examples of situa-tions where an evaluation of anatomical characteristics alone is insufficient, besides failing in the provision of accurate information about malignant cutaneous lesions (5,6) . The mechanism by which gallium-67 scintigraphy demonstrates the lesion is based on the gallium ion transport into the cell through the plasmatic membrane, after gallium-transferrin complex binds to transferrin receptors on the tumor cell surface (7) . Factors such as vascularization, vascular patency and increased ionexchange due to increased membrane porosity, contribute for the final gallium uptake by the malignant cell.…”