Pretransplantation Fluorine-18-Deoxyglucose–Positron Emission Tomography Scan Lacks Prognostic Value in Chemosensitive B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Undergoing Nonmyeloablative Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation

Abstract Whether chemosensitivity, as determined by positron emission tomography using fluorine-18-deoxyglucose (FDG-PET), is a requirement for successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) has yet to be established. We analyzed 88 patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) for event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) according to computed tomography (CT) and FDG-PET criteria before uniform nonmyeloablative (NMA) allo-SCT. Patients who were chemosensitive, according to CT criteria, experienced significantly greater EFS ( P P P  = .85) or OS ( P  = .96) between FDG-PET–positive (Deauville 4 to 5, n = 24) and FDG-PET–negative (Deauville 1 to 3, n = 34) patients. There was no difference in survival according to age