ABSTRACT
Introduction: This systematic review studies the prognostic value of two conventional imaging tools, sestamibi and gallium scans, for predicting how patients with Hodgkin lymphoma will respond to treatment
Methods: The PubMed database was searched for English-language articles that contained the following search terms: [Hodgkin AND [mibi OR sestamibi OR gallium OR spect] AND response]. All articles that were identified during this search were included in the study, regardless of date published. The inclusion criteria were as follows: articles that described studies that were limited to Hodgkin patients and that reported the predictive value of conventional imaging tools. Articles about other types of lymphoma and/or those that focused on the diagnostic and staging accuracy of mibi and gallium scans were excluded
Result: In total, 14 articles were retrieved. Of these, the majority met the inclusion criteria of the systematic review with the exception of two, which were limited to an examination of the reliability of performing sestamibi scans to predict the response to treatment. All remaining 12 articles considered both the sestamibi scans and the gallium scintigraphy. The results of the systematic review indicate that positive gallium scan results can be proposed as a poor prognostic factor that is associated with partial or full recurrence of Hodgkin disease, a reduction in overall survival rate, and progression-free survival compared with patients with a negative scan
Discussion: Both sestamibi and gallium scans revealed high sensitivity and specificity in predicting the response to treatment including complete remission, partial remission, and recurrence of the disease
Conclusion: These imaging tools can appropriately assess how Hodgkin patients will respond to chemotherapy. As such, clinicians can use these tools to devise appropriate treatment strategies