The prognostic value of interim positron emission tomography scans combined with immunohistochemical data in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

The treatment of hematologic malignancies is moving towards risk-stratified directed therapy, whereby treatment is based on the disease's biological characteristics and response to treatment. We investigated whether BCL2 and BCL6 status could add to the prognostic information yielded by an interim positron emission tomography (PET) scan in the ability to predict outcome. Negative interim scans and BCL2-negative status correlated with continuing remission (p<0.005) at a median follow up of 24 months.