AUTHOR=Qin Chunxia , Gai Yongkang , Liu Qingyao , Ruan Weiwei , Liu Fang , Hu Fan , Zhang Xiaoping , Lan Xiaoli 

TITLE=Optimized Application of 68Ga-Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-617 Whole-Body PET/CT and Pelvic PET/MR in Prostate Cancer Initial Diagnosis and Staging

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.657619

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.657619

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Purpose To analyze 68Ga-PSMA-617 PET/CT or PET/MR and delayed PET/MR images in patients diagnosed with or suspicion of prostate cancer, and to explore the optimal use of PET/CT and PET/MR for initial diagnosis and staging in prostate cancer.
Methods Images from conventional scan by 68Ga-PSMA whole-body PET/CT or PET/MR followed by delayed pelvic PET/MR were retrospectively analyzed. Prostatic 68Ga-PSMA uptake was measured as SUVmax1 (conventional scan 1 h post injection) and SUVmax2 (delayed scan 3 h post injection). Age, PSA levels, and SUVmax were compared between benign and malignant cases. The correlation of SUVmax1 and SUVmax2 was analyzed. Diagnostic performance was evaluated by ROC analysis.
Results 56 patients with 41 prostate cancers and 15 benign prostate lesions were enrolled. Fifty-three patients had paired conventional and delayed scans. Age, tPSA, fPSA levels, and SUVmax were significantly different between benign and malignant cases. A good correlation was found between SUVmax1 and SUVmax2. There was significant difference between SUVmax1 and SUVmax2 in the malignant group (p = 0.001). SUVmax1 had superior diagnostic performance than SUVmax2, SUVmax difference and PSA levels, with a sensitivity of 85.4%, a specificity of 100% and an AUC of 0.956. A combination of SUVmax1 with nodal and/or distant metastases and MR PIRADS V2 score had a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. Delayed pelvic PET/MR imaging in 33 patients were found to be redundant because these patients had nodal and/or distant metastases which can be easily detected by PET/CT. PET/MR provided incremental value in 8 patients at early-stage prostate cancer based on precise anatomical localization and changes in lesion signal provided by MR.
Conclusion Combined 68Ga-PSMA whole-body PET/CT and pelvic PET/MR can accurately differentiate benign prostate diseases from prostate cancer and accurately stage prostate cancer. Whole-body PET/CT is sufficient for advanced prostate cancer. Pelvic PET/MR contributes to diagnosis and accurate staging in early prostate cancer. Imaging at about 1 hour after injection is sufficient in most patients.