Somatostatin receptor expression in lymphomas: a source of false diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor at <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT imaging
Creators: name: Ruuska, Tiina
name: Yadith Ramírez Escalante
name: Vaittinen, Samuli
name: Gardberg, Maria
name: Kiviniemi, Aida
name: Marjamäki, Päivi
name: Kemppainen, Jukka
name: Jyrkkiö, Sirkku
name: Minn, Heikki
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Cancer
subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Hematology
subject: Plant Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: <b>Background:</b><sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT is routinely used to image neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). A case of lymphoma initially thought to be NET based on a positive <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT was recently seen at our institution. This prompted us to determine prospectively somatostatin receptor (SSTR) status in patients with lymphoma by immunohistochemical analysis of SSTR subtypes 2, 3 and 5 (SSTR<sub>2,3,5</sub>) and <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT imaging. <b>Material and methods:</b> Twenty-one patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma were referred to <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC and FDG PET/CT prior to any treatment. Tracer uptake was evaluated visually by two nuclear medicine specialists. Maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were determined from 14 nodal and two extranodal regions with highest uptake in each patient. Lesions were then graded with Deauville score (1–5) on FDG PET/CT and modified Krenning score (0–4) on <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT, respectively. SSTR<sub>2,3,5</sub> status was analyzed from routine biopsies of lymphomatous tissue and matched to corresponding PET/CT findings. <b>Results:</b> About 20/21 patients had FDG-positive lymphoma (Deauville score ≥3). Uptake of <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC was regarded as positive if Krenning score was ≥2 and resulted in 13/21 (62%) patients having <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC-positive lymphomas. The highest uptake of <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC was seen in Hodgkin’s lymphoma of nodular sclerosis subtype and in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (SUVmax median 9.8 and 9.7, respectively). Both cases showed strong SSTR<sub>2</sub> immunopositivity in tumor cells. Some patients had SSTR<sub>2</sub> immunopositivity predominantly in endothelial and dendritic cells and follicular centers of lymph nodes contributing to a positive PET/CT with probably low tumor-specific uptake. SSTR<sub>3</sub> and SSTR<sub>5</sub> were negative in most lymphoma subtypes. <b>Conclusions:</b> According to this pilot study, <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT is positive in some lymphoma subtypes which express SSTRs. These tumors present a potential risk of being misinterpreted as NETs if a representative tumor sample is not available. Lymphomas with high expression of SSTRs may be amenable to treatments targeting these receptors.