Role of surveillance CT in detection of pre-clinical relapse in patients with B-cell iymphoma: a retrospective study

ABSTRACT

Background: with the evolution of curative treatment regimen, the rate of complete remission achieved in patients with diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma is continuously rising. It is achievable at the end of primary treatment in about 60-80%. On the other hand relapse is very common in the 1[st] two years after end of primary treatment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL] and follicular lymphoma, that is to say, about 20-25% of patients relapse after complete response. Use of routine surveillance imaging for relapse detection is still an area of controversy. Evidence is still lacking to support the utility of routine imaging [namely CT scan] in detection of pre-clinical relapse in diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma [NHL]. This work aims at adding further evidence to the pool of studies available in the literature which might encourage, or disapprove the rule of CT as a routine imaging procedures in lymphoma patients who achieved CR