Abstract
After prostate malignancy diagnosis, precise determination of disease extent are fundamental steps for tailored made therapy. The earlier the diagnosis of the burden of the disease, the longer the survival in many cases. National and international guidelines are based on “classic” imaging technics combining radiological and nuclear medicine scans like CT, MRI and bone scintigraphy (BS). The most recent nuclear medicine development is the prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET and is emerging as the most promising tool of medical imaging, gaining ground every day. Nevertheless, the different onset among multiple studies fails to establish a worldwide admission and incorporation of this technique in guidelines and its position in workaday medical algorithms. It seems that the medical community agrees not to utilize PSMA PET for low-risk patients; intense debate and research is ongoing for its utility in intermediate risk patients. Contrariwise, in high-risk patients PSMA PET is confirmed outperforming CT and BS combined. Additionally, irrespectively to their castration status, patients with biochemical failure should be referred for PSMA PET. Even though PSMA PET reveals more extended disease than expected or exonerates equivalent lesions, thus impacting treatment optimization. Studies being in progress and future trials with clarify whether PSMA PET will be the new gold standard technic for specific groups of patients.
Highlights
Prostatic cancer (PC) is the most common male malignancy worldwide and the third most common with regards of mortality [1]
Treatment modification was performed in 27% of patients having undergone 68Ga-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-11 PET/CT over 5% of the alternatives
After evaluating 120 scans, this study showed that if an immunohistologically confirmed primary PC didn’t overexpress PSMA on baseline exam it was unlikely to detect PSMA-expressing lesions on restaging irrelevant to PSA level or ANDROGEN DEPRIVATION THERAPY (ADT) effect
Summary
The different onset among multiple studies fails to establish a worldwide admission and incorporation of this technique in guidelines and its position in workaday medical algorithms. It seems that the medical community agrees not to utilize PSMA PET for low-risk patients; intense debate and research is ongoing for its utility in intermediate risk patients. Contrariwise, in high-risk patients PSMA PET is confirmed outperforming CT and BS combined. Irrespectively to their castration status, patients with biochemical failure should be referred for PSMA PET.
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