Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma staging: a prospective study of the value of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) versus PET and CT.

Positron-emission Tomography

An imaging technique using compounds labelled with short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides (such as carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18) to measure cell metabolism. It has been useful in study of soft tissues such as CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and brain. SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY is closely related to positron emission tomography, but uses isotopes with longer half-lives and resolution is lower.

Composite Lymphoma

Two or more distinct types of malignant lymphoid tumors occurring within a single organ or tissue at the same time. It may contain different types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells or both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells.

Tomography, Emission-computed, Single-photon

A method of computed tomography that uses radionuclides which emit a single photon of a given energy. The camera is rotated 180 or 360 degrees around the patient to capture images at multiple positions along the arc. The computer is then used to reconstruct the transaxial, sagittal, and coronal images from the 3-dimensional distribution of radionuclides in the organ. The advantages of SPECT are that it can be used to observe biochemical and physiological processes as well as size and volume of the organ. The disadvantage is that, unlike positron-emission tomography where the positron-electron annihilation results in the emission of 2 photons at 180 degrees from each other, SPECT requires physical collimation to line up the photons, which results in the loss of many available photons and hence degrades the image.

Lymphoma, Mantle-cell

A form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma having a usually diffuse pattern with both small and medium lymphocytes and small cleaved cells. It accounts for about 5% of adult non-Hodgkin lymphomas in the United States and Europe. The majority of mantle-cell lymphomas are associated with a t(11;14) translocation resulting in overexpression of the CYCLIN D1 gene (GENES, BCL-1).

Lymphoma, Non-hodgkin

Any of a group of malignant tumors of lymphoid tissue that differ from HODGKIN DISEASE, being more heterogeneous with respect to malignant cell lineage, clinical course, prognosis, and therapy. The only common feature among these tumors is the absence of giant REED-STERNBERG CELLS, a characteristic of Hodgkin's disease.