New guidelines developed by the International Harmonization Project (IHP) for treatment response assessment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma aim to standardize the parameters used in clinical trials for lymphoma and incorporate new technologies. The revised guidelines also cover all lymphomas.
According to the IHP, the guidelines will provide clinicians worldwide with uniform criteria to compare and interpret clinical trials of lymphoma treatments and should facilitate the development of new therapies.
A major change to the guidelines has been the introduction of PET imaging. The recommendations for performing and interpreting PET scans in response assessment of lymphoma were developed by IHP committee co-chair Dr. Malik Juweid, associate professor of radiology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, and other PET imaging experts from the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
The revised guidelines cover the use of PET for assessing all types of lymphoma. For diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease, the guidelines recommend that PET always be used to assess post-treatment response. PET also is strongly recommended prior to treatment to determine extent of disease for these lymphomas.
For the other 30 or so subtypes of lymphoma, the guidelines offer recommendations for when PET is useful and when it is not, and if PET is used in those cases, what criteria should be fulfilled.
The guidelines also address when a scan should be performed, and recommend that PET obtained for response assessment at therapy conclusion be done preferably six to eight weeks after completion of chemotherapy and 8 to 12 weeks after radiation.
The recommendations appear in the January 22 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
January 23, 2007
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