Serial 18F-FDG PET for Monitoring Treatment Response After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Myelofibrosis

Our objective was to assess the feasibility of 18F-FDG PET/CT for noninvasive monitoring of treatment response after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for myelofibrosis.Twelve patients with myelofibrosis underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT before and after SCT. Bone marrow uptake, spleen uptake, and spleen size were assessed before and after SCT and compared with hematologic response criteria and bone marrow biopsies.All patients who did not achieve complete remission remained PET-positive (P = 0.02). Extent of disease, bone marrow metabolism, spleen metabolism, and spleen volume decreased significantly in patients with complete remission (P = 0.03). PET/CT after SCT had a sensitivity of 1.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-1.0), a specificity of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.36-1.0), a negative predictive value of 1.0 (95% CI, 0.48-1.0), and a positive predictive value of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.42-1.0) for diagnosis of residual disease.18F-FDG PET/CT is feasible for noninvasive monitoring of treatment response after allogeneic SCT for myelofibrosis.