ABSTRACT
Pretreatment assessment 910 Response assessment 911 Response criteria in malignant lymphoma 911 Revised response criteria 912 Recommended timing of PET or PET/CT scans in 912
lymphoma clinical trials Pretreatment assessment 912 Response assessment during therapy 913 Assessment posttreatment 915 International Harmonization Project recommendations for 915
response in malignant lymphomas Complete remission 916
Complete remission unconfirmed 916 Partial remission 916 Stable disease 916 Relapsed disease (after CR)/progressive disease (after PR, 916
stable disease) Bone marrow assessment 917 Endpoints 917 Follow-up 917 Conclusions 918 Key points 918 References 918
One of the most critical elements in response assessment and follow-up of the patient with lymphoma begins early in the clinical course, with appropriate pretreatment diagnostic and staging studies. Excisional biopsy with immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analysis will ensure the correct diagnosis. A fine needle aspiration should be discouraged because of the extremely high rate of falsenegative results.1 Core biopsies may be adequate for nodes in areas inaccessible for excision and at the time of a suspected relapse.
