PSMA PET/CT with Glu-urea-Lys-(Ahx)-[68Ga(HBED-CC)] versus 3D CT volumetric lymph node assessment in recurrent prostate cancer

• Published in: European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging 2015-11, Vol.42 (12), p.1794-1800
• Main Authors: Giesel, Frederik L., Fiedler, H., Stefanova, M., Sterzing, F., Rius, M., Kopka, K., Moltz, J. H., Afshar-Oromieh, A., Choyke, P. L., Haberkorn, U., Kratochwil, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Cardiology; Edetic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Humans; Imaging; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lymphatic system; Male; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Multimodal Imaging; Nuclear Medicine; Oligopeptides; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Orthopedics; Positron-Emission Tomography; Prostate cancer; Prostatic Neoplasms - diagnosis; Prostatic Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Radiography; Radiology; Recurrence; Retrospective Studies; Tomography
• ISSN: 1619-7070; 1619-7089
• DOI: 10.1007/s00259-015-3106-6

Purpose PET/CT with the PSMA ligand is a powerful new method for the early detection of nodal metastases in patients with biochemical relapse. The purpose of this retrospective investigation was to evaluate the volume and dimensions of nodes identified by Glu-urea-Lys-(Ahx)-[ 68 Ga(HBED-CC)] ( 68 Ga-PSMA-11) in the setting of recurrent prostate cancer. Methods All PET/CT images were acquired 60 ± 10 min after intravenous injection of 68 Ga-PSMA-11 (mean dose 176 MBq). In 21 patients with recurrent prostate cancer and rising PSA, 49 PSMA-positive lymph nodes were identified. Using semiautomated lymph node segmentation software, node volume and short-axis and long-axis dimensions were measured and compared with the maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax). Round nodes greater than or equal to 8 mm were considered positive by morphological criteria alone. The percentage of nodes identified by elevated SUVmax but not by conventional morphological criteria was determined. Results The mean volume of 68 Ga-PSMA-11-positive nodes was 0.5 ml (range 0.2 – 2.3 ml), and the mean short-axis diameter was 5.8 mm (range 2.4 – 13.3 mm). In 7 patients (33.3 %) with 31 PSMA-positive nodes only 11 (36 %) were morphologically positive based on diameters >8 mm on CT. In the remaining 14 patients (66.7 %), 18 (37 %) of PSMA positive lymph nodes had short-axis diameters