Abstract:
Objective To discuss the value of the response evaluation criteria in lymphoma (RECIL) and Lugano classification of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT for the mid-term therapeutic and prognostic evaluation of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
Methods Clinical and imaging data of 82 patients with DLBCL (40 males and 42 females, aged (53.9±16.6) years) confirmed by histopathological examiation in Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2008 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed before treatment and after three or four courses of chemotherapy. In accordance with RECIL, all patients were evaluated for efficacy after mid-term chemotherapy, including complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), minor response (MR), stable disease (SD), and progressive disease (PD). MR patients were recoded as PR and SD separately. Then, the Lugano classification was used after mid-term chemotherapy, including CR, PR, SD, and PD. CR and PR were classified as the remission group, and SD and PD were classified as the non-remission group. Kappa test was used to evaluate the consistency of efficacy between the RECIL and Lugano classification. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare the prognosis of patients of remission group and non-remission group on the basis of RECIL and Lugano classification. The intergroup differences between RECIL and Lugano classification were compared using Log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional risk regression analyses were performed to screen for factors affecting prognosis.
Results When MR patients were recoded as PR, the RECIL and Lugano classification showed consistency in the efficacy for evaluating patients after mid-term chemotherapy (92.7% (76/82), Kappa=0.855, P<0.01). When MR patients were recoded as SD, the consistency between RECIL and Lugano classification was 90.2%(74/82) (Kappa=0.811, P<0.01), which was considered as good. The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates (69.7% vs. 0, 71.4% vs. 0, 71.2% vs. 0) and overall survival (OS) rates (88.2% vs. 33.3%, 87.0% vs. 40.0%, 90.4% vs. 33.3%) of the remission group in the Lugano classification and RECIL (MR recoded as PR and SD separately) were significantly higher than those of the non-remission group (χ2=14.540−65.446, all P<0.01). Multivariate Cox proportional risk regression analysis showed that age and RECIL (MR recoded as SD) were factors for the PFS rate of DLBCL (hazard ratio (HR)=1.050, 3.527; both P<0.001). The risk of progression for patients in the RECIL non-remission group was 3.527 times higher than that in the remission group. Multivariate Cox proportional risk regression analysis also showed that age, Ann Arbor stage, and RECIL(MR recorded as SD) were factors for the OS rate of DLBCL (HR=1.097, 1.884, 4.739; all P<0.05). The risk of death for patients in the RECIL non-remission group was 4.739 times higher than that in the remission group.
Conclusions The consistency between RECIL and Lugano classification after mid-term chemotherapy evaluation of DLBCL patients is good. RECIL can provide valuable information in predicting the prognosis of DLBCL patients.