Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between the maximum standard uptake value（SUVmax） of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images and the therapeutic effects in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma（NHL） before treatment. Methods The clinical data of 146 patients diagnosed with NHL by lymph node biopsy on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images in our department from July 2017 to March 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the International Working Organization Evaluation Standard for Lymphoma Efficacy（IWC），NHL patients with 6 courses of chemotherapy were divided into effective and ineffective groups to analyze the relationship between SUVmax and clini-copathological characteristics and curative effect. Results The clinical stage，malignancy，lesion size，necrosis，bone marrow infiltration，serum lactae dehydrogenase before treatment，Ki-67 positive rate in NHL patients were related to the SUVmax（P<0.05）. The SUVmax before treatment of the ineffective group was higher than that of the effective group（16.68±6.16 vs 12.16±5.27，t=4.654，P=0.001）. The optimal cut-off value of SUVmax to evaluate the efficacy of NHL patients before treatment was 14.836，the corresponding AUC was 0.835（95%CI：0.751-0.920），and the specificity was 80.0%，sensitivity was 77.4%. SUVmax>14.836 before treatment was an independent risk factor affecting the efficacy of NHL patients（OR=1.688， 95%CI：1.179-2.418，P=0.007）. Conclusion The SUVmax in ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images can be used to evaluate the efficacy of NHL patients.

Key words: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT images, Maximum standard uptake value, Efficacy