This study was designed to investigate the relationship between Tc-98m-hexa
kis-2-methoxyisobutyl-isonitrile (MIBI) scintigraphy and outcome of treatme
nt in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (NHL). Forty-five patients with
NHL were studied with Tc-99m-MIBI before any treatment. Images of the lesi
ons were obtained at 20 min and 2 h after radionuclide administration. Visu
al semiquantitative interpretation was performed for Tc-99m-MIBI (grade 0-4
) scintigraphy. Patients underwent 3-5 cycles of CHOP chemotherapy with/wit
hout involved field radiotherapy for large tumors. Their responses to treat
ment were evaluated at the end of chemotherapy and during the follow-up per
iod. Forty of 45 patients (89%) showed abnormal uptake of Tc-99m-MIBI. Ther
e was no correlation between intensity of MIBI accumulation and response to
chemotherapy. However, patients with negative or decreased MIBI activity 2
h after radionuclide administration showed worse response to chemotherapy
compared to those with continued MIBI activity. MIBI activity could not pre
dict the development of relapse in the follow-up study. In this study, the
number of patients was small and we could not reach definite conclusions. H
owever, we think that MIBI scintigraphy is not valuable For predicting the
chemotherapy outcome in patients with NHL.