The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in primary cutaneous lymphoma: an educational review.

INTRODUCTION: Primary cutaneous lymphoma (PCL) is a cutaneous non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that originates in the skin and lacks extracutaneous spread upon initial diagnosis. The clinical management of secondary cutaneous lymphomas is different from that of PCLs, and earlier detection is associated with better prognosis. Accurate staging is necessary to determine the extent of disease and to choose the appropriate treatment. The aim of this review is to investigate the current and potential roles of 18F- fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in the diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of PCLs. METHODS: A focused review of the scientific literature was performed using inclusion criteria to filter results pertaining to human clinical studies performed between 2015 and 2021 that analyzed cutaneous PCL lesions on 18F PET/CT imaging. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: A review of 9 clinical studies published after 2015 concluded that 18F-FDG PET/CT is highly sensitive and specific for aggressive PCLs and proved valuable for identifying extracutaneous disease. These studies found 18F-FDG PET/CT highly useful for guiding lymph node biopsy and that imaging results influenced therapeutic decision in many cases. These studies also predominantly concluded that 18F-FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than computed tomography (CT) alone for detection of subcutaneous PCL lesions. Routine revision of nonattenuation-corrected (NAC) PET images may improve the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT for detection of indolent cutaneous lesions and may expand the potential uses of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the clinic. Furthermore, calculating a global disease score from 18F-FDG PET/CT at every follow-up visit may simplify assessment of disease progression in the early clinical stages, as well as predict the prognosis of disease in patients with PCL.

The effects of limb laterality and age on the inflammation and bone turnover of the acromioclavicular shoulder joint: 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose and 18 F-sodium-fluoride-PET/computed tomography study.

PURPOSE: The acromioclavicular (AC) joint is a common site of injury and degenerative changes such as osteoarthritis (OA) of the shoulder. Physical manifestations of OA are preceded by molecular changes, detection of which may enhance early prophylaxis and monitoring of disease progression. In this study, we investigate the use of 18 F-FDG and 18 F-NaF-PET/CT to assess the effects of limb laterality and age on the inflammation and bone turnover of the AC shoulder joint. METHODS: We analyzed FDG and NaF-PET/CT scans of 41 females (mean age of 43.9 ± 14.2 years) and 45 males (mean age of 44.5 ± 13.8 years) using a semiquantitative technique based on predefined ROI. RESULTS: There was a greater NaF uptake in the right side of the AC joint compared with the left in both females (left: 2.22 ± 1.00; right: 3.08 ± 1.18; P < 0.0001) and males (left: 2.57 ± 1.49; right: 2.99 ± 1.40; P = 0.003). No consistent correlation between age and NaF or FDG uptakes were found in both females and males. There was also a positive correlation between FDG and NaF uptakes in both left ( P = 0.01; r = 0.37) and right ( P = 0.0006; r = 0.53) AC joints of male subjects. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to reveal the varying effect of right-left limb laterality and aging on FDG and NaF uptake at the AC joint. Future studies correlating the history of shoulder trauma, pain, and degenerative change with FDG and NaF-PET/CT findings will be critical in the adoption of molecular imaging in the clinical setting.

Obesity Management in Kidney Transplant Candidates: Current Paradigms and Gaps in Knowledge.

In this review, we discuss the increasing prevalence of obesity among people with chronic and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and implications for kidney transplant (KT) candidate selection and management. Although people with obesity and ESKD receive survival and quality-of-life benefits from KT, most KT programs maintain strict body mass index (BMI) cutoffs to determine transplant eligibility. However, BMI does not distinguish between visceral adiposity, which confers higher cardiovascular risks and risks of perioperative and adverse posttransplant outcomes, and muscle mass, which is protective in ESKD. Furthermore, requirements for patients with obesity to lose weight before KT should be balanced with the findings of numerous studies that show weight loss is a risk factor for death among patients with ESKD, independent of starting BMI. Data suggest that KT is associated with survival benefits relative to remaining on dialysis for candidates with obesity although recipients without obesity have higher delayed graft function rates and longer transplant hospitalization durations. Research is needed to determine the optimal body composition metrics for KT candidacy assessments and risk stratification. In addition, ESKD-specific obesity management guidelines are needed that will address the neurologic, behavioral, socioeconomic, and physical underpinnings of this increasingly common disease.

Experiments from unfinished Registered Reports in the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology.

As part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, we published Registered Reports that described how we intended to replicate selected experiments from 29 high-impact preclinical cancer biology papers published between 2010 and 2012. Replication experiments were completed and Replication Studies reporting the results were submitted for 18 papers, of which 17 were accepted and published by eLife with the rejected paper posted as a preprint. Here, we report the status and outcomes obtained for the remaining 11 papers. Four papers initiated experimental work but were stopped without any experimental outcomes. Two papers resulted in incomplete outcomes due to unanticipated challenges when conducting the experiments. For the remaining five papers only some of the experiments were completed with the other experiments incomplete due to mundane technical or unanticipated methodological challenges. The experiments from these papers, along with the other experiments attempted as part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, provides evidence about the challenges of repeating preclinical cancer biology experiments and the replicability of the completed experiments.