To evaluate the predictive value of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT before or after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Auto-HSCT) in patients with non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma (NHL).

Fifty-eight NHL patients who underwent PET/CT scan before or after Auto-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed. Between June 2007 and May 2016, 40 patients (32 males, 8 females; median age 39 years) underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT pre-transplantation, and 34 patients (23 males, 11 females; median age 34 years) underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT post-transplantation. There were 16 patients underwent both pre- and post-transplantation imaging. PET/CT results were categorized as positive or negative according to the standard response criteria. The predictive value of PET/CT was evaluated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank test. Three-year PFS and OS of different groups were compared with Fisher exact test.

(1)¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before Auto-HSCT: PFS of patients in PET/CT negative group (n=27) and positive group (n=13) were significantly different (χ²=4.187, P<0.05), 3-year PFS was 63.6%(14/22) vs 1/7 (P=0.031). However, OS of the 2 groups were not significantly different (χ²=1.777, P>0.05). (2)¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT after Auto-HSCT: PFS and OS of patients in PET/CT negative group (n=18) and positive group (n=16) were significantly different (χ² values: 15.430, 7.726, both P<0.01). The 3-year PFS and OS of the 2 groups were 8/10 vs 2/12(P=0.005) and 8/10 vs 4/12 (P=0.038), respectively.

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before or after Auto-HSCT could provide prognostic information for NHL patients.

Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Prognosis; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose