The Impact of Fluorodeoxyglucose–Positron Emission Tomography in Primary Staging and Patient Management in Lymphoma Patients

Fully diagnostic positron emission tomography (PET)/CT scans acquired during oral and intravenous contrast can be provided to patients and referring physicians in a single imaging session. Although FDG uptake varies, most low-grade lymphomas exhibit sufficient FDG avidity to also be staged reliably with FDG PET/CT. PET/CT imaging is more accurate for lymphoma staging than PET or CT alone and has substantial impact on patient management. This accurate whole-body glucose metabolic survey should serve as the baseline for subsequent treatment response evaluations. PET/CT has evolved to become the modality of choice for staging of nodal and extranodal lymphoma, for assessing therapeutic response, and for establishing patient prognosis.