Comparison of standardized uptake value and standardized uptake lean body mass metrics in F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for assessing transformation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and follicular lymphoma.

BACKGROUND

The maximum standardized uptake value normalized to body weight (BW) (SUVmax) is a commonly used metric in F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for assessing tumor aggressiveness and response to therapy. However, SUVmax is sensitive to changes in BW, potentially leading to inaccuracies in patients with cancer cachexia or obesity. The maximum standardized uptake value normalized to lean body mass (SULmax) has been proposed as a more reliable alternative, particularly in contexts where BW fluctuations are significant. This study aimed to evaluate the relative performance of SUVmax and SULmax in identifying high-grade transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) into more aggressive lymphomas.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective, single-center analysis of PET/computed tomography (CT) scans from patients with CLL or FL, measuring the most avid lesion using both SUVmax and SULmax. High-grade transformation was identified through pathological records within 3 months after the scan, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to compare the diagnostic performance of SUVmax and SULmax.

RESULTS

A total of 32 patients with CLL and 58 with FL were included. Some patients had more than one biopsy, giving a total of 43 samples for CLL and 91 samples for FL. The receiver operating curve analysis showed insufficient evidence (P=0.92) of a statistical difference between SUVmax and SULmax in predicting transformation for CLL, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.918 for SUVmax and 0.921 for SULmax. In FL, SULmax also showed similar performance (AUC =0.754) to SUVmax (AUC =0.745) for predicting transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with the difference again not significant (P=0.93). When grade 3B FL was also considered to be transformed lymphoma, SUVmax was effectively equal (P=0.96) to SULmax (AUC =0.932 and 0.931, respectively). Optimal cutoffs were about 7 to 8 for both diseases using SUVmax, and 5 for CLL or transformation of FL to a higher-grade lymphoma, but 9 if grade 3B was not counted.

CONCLUSIONS

Both SUVmax and SULmax can be reliably used for assessing the transformation of CLL and FL to aggressive lymphomas on 18F-FDG PET/CT. Given SULmax's stability with respect to weight changes, it may be more appropriate for assessing therapeutic response in patients with significant weight fluctuations. Further studies are needed to refine the use of these metrics in clinical practice.