Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the
effect of chemotherapy treatment with ABVD on brain
glucose metabolism in patients with Hodgkin's
disease (HD).
Methods A total of 49 patients (23 men, 26 women; mean
age 32±9 years) diagnosed with HD were included in the
study. All of them underwent a baseline (PET0) and an
interim (PET2) 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG)
PET/computed tomography (CT) brain scan. All patients
were treated after PET0 with two cycles of ABVD consisting
of doxorubicin (adriamycin), bleomycin, vinblastine, and
dacarbazine for 2 months. Thirty-five patients were
evaluated further 15±6 days after four additional cycles
(PET6). Differences in brain 18F-FDG uptake were
analyzed by statistical parametric mapping (SPM2).
Results Compared with PET0, PET2 showed a
significantly higher metabolic activity in the right angular
gyrus (Brodmann area 39) and a significant metabolic
reduction in Brodmann areas 10, 11, and 32 bilaterally.
All these changes disappeared at PET6.
Conclusion Our results support the conclusion of a very
limited impact of ABVD chemotherapy on brain metabolism
in patients with HD.
