Utility of Bone Marrow Biopsy and Aspirate for Staging of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma in the Era of Positron Emission Tomography With 2-Deoxy-2-[Fluorine-18]fluoro-deoxyglucose Integrated With Computed Tomography

In patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL, PET-CT is accurate in detecting BMI by DLBCL. Although PET-CT has a very high negative predictive value for BMI, it overestimates the number of cases with marrow involvement by DLBCL. In clinical practice, routine BMAB may no longer be necessary for all patients with DLBCL who are staged by PET-CT, unless the results would change both staging and therapy. The prognostic implication of BMI identified by PET-CT compared with BMAB remains unknown. Whether a PET-CT precludes the need for a BMAB in patients with DLBCL remains to be evaluated in a prospective study.