NMR in biomedicine
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The aim of this study was to compare diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for the staging and evaluation of the treatment response in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Institutional review board approval was obtained for this study; all subjects gave informed consent. Twelve patients were imaged before treatment and eight of these were also imaged after two cycles of chemotherapy using both DW-MRI and PET/CT. ⋯ Of their 24 target lesions, the mean pretreatment ADC value, tumor size and SUVmax were 772 µm(2) /s, 21.3 cm(2) and 16.9 g/mL, respectively. At interim assessment of the same 24 target lesions, ADC values increased by 85%, tumor size decreased by 74% and SUVmax decreased by 83% (all p < 0.01 versus baseline). DW-MRI provides results comparable with those of PET/CT for staging and early response assessment in patients with DLBCL.