68Ga-PSMA Positron Emission Tomography Research Articles

Performance of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT for Prostate Cancer Management at Initial Staging and Time of Biochemical Recurrence.

Recently introduced Gallium-68 labeled PSMA-ligands such as HBED-CC (68Ga-PSMA) have shown promise for unmet diagnostic needs in prostate cancer. 68Ga-PSMA has demonstrated improved detection rates and specificity for prostate cancer compared to standard imaging approaches. In the setting of primary disease, 68Ga-PSMA appears to preferentially identify treatment-relevant intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer. There is also a growing evidence that 68Ga-PSMA positron emission tomography (PET) outperforms alternative conventional imaging methods including choline-based radiotracers for the localization of disease sites at biochemical recurrence, particularly at lower prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (<1ng/mL). However, the majority of published work lacks rigorous verification of imaging results. 68Ga-PSMA offers significant promise for both, primary disease and biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. The evidence base to support 68Ga-PSMA is however still underdeveloped, and more rigorous studies substantiating efficacy are needed.

68Ga-PSMA PET/CT imaging in recurrent prostate cancer: Where are we now?

IntroductionProstate cancer (PCa) is a major health concern worldwide with up to 60% of patients experiencing biochemical relapse after radical treatment. Early diagnosis of PCa recurrence is of high importance for successful salvage therapy. The need for accurate imaging has prompted the introduction of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-based radiotracers for positron emission tomography (PET).Material and methodsIn this review we summarized and discussed the results of the studies analyzing the utility of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT in patients who experienced a biochemical relapse of prostate cancer.ResultsPSMA-based PET scans have been proved to provide a superior diagnostic performance over other modalities for localization of the site of early PCa recurrence. 68Ga-PSMA has been also shown to have a higher sensitivity and specificity than other established PET radiotracers such as radiocholines.ConclusionsThe early studies show promising results and support the use of 68Ga-PSMA for PCa restaging. However, the number of studies concerning the utility of 68Ga-PSMA PET in the context of secondary PCa staging is limited and there is still a considerable scope for further research in this field.