Prostate-specific molecular imaging, such as PET and CT, can detect more cancer and improve patient care, according to a study presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2017 Annual Meeting.
Ga68-Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) /positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is increasingly used to evaluate patients with prostate cancer, and this research addressed its impact on clinical care in patients with prostate cancer.
In a prospective multicenter study in 4 Australian centers, 431 patients underwent pre- and post-Ga68 PSMA management plans with their primary specialist, between January 2015 and January 2016.
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Referring medical specialists completed a survey on management intent before patients underwent Ga68 PSMA PET/CT scans followed by another survey after results of the scans were available.
Scans were performed for primary staging in 25% of patients and for increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after surgery and/or radiotherapy in 75% of patients.
Results from the survey indicated that the scan changed planned management in approximately half (51%) of patients. More significant changes in management occurred in patients with biochemical recurrence (64% after surgery, 69% after radiotherapy) than in patients with primary staging (23%).
Early analyses suggested the PSMA can detect disease not previously detected in the prostate bed (30% of patients), in the locoregional lymph nodes (36% of patients), and distantly located (16% of patients).
These results indicate that Ga68 PSMA PET/CT scans can detect unsuspected disease and affect clinical management, particularly in patients experiencing biochemical recurrence of disease after surgery or radiotherapy compared with primary staging.
References
1. Roach P, Francis R, Emmett L, McCarthy M, Scott A. Clinical management intent of Ga68 PSMA PET/CT imaging in prostate cancer: an Australian multicentre study. J Nucl Med. 2017;58(1):706.
