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11C-Choline PET/CT for restaging prostate cancer. Results from 4,426 scans in a single-centre patient series

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate 11C-choline PET/CT as a diagnostic tool for restaging prostate cancer (PCa), in a large, homogeneous and clinically relevant population of patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of PCa after primary therapy. The secondary aim was to assess the best timing for performing 11C-choline PET/CT during BCR.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 9,632 11C-choline PET/CT scans performed in our institution for restaging PCa from January 2007 to June 2015. The inclusion criteria were: (1) proven PCa radically treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or with primary external beam radiotherapy (EBRT); (2) PSA serum values available; (3) proven BCR (PSA >0.2 ng/mL after RP or PSA >2 ng/mL above the nadir after primary EBRT with rising PSA levels). Finally, 3,203 patients with recurrent PCa matching all the inclusion criteria were retrospectively enrolled and 4,426 scans were analysed.

Results

Overall, 52.8 % of the 11C-choline PET/CT scans (2,337/4,426) and 54.8 % of the patients (1,755/3,203) were positive. In 29.4 % of the scans, at least one distant finding was observed. The mean and median PSA values were, respectively, 4.9 and 2.1 ng/mL at the time of the scan (range 0.2 – 50 ng/mL). In our series, 995 scans were performed in patients with PSA levels between 1 and 2 ng/mL. In this subpopulation the positivity rate in the 995 scans was 44.7 %, with an incidence of distant findings of 19.2 % and an incidence of oligometastatic disease (one to three lesions) of 37.7 %. The absolute PSA value at the time of the scan and ongoing androgen deprivation therapy were associated with an increased probability of a positive 11C-choline PET/CT scan (p < 0.0001). In the ROC analysis, a PSA value of 1.16 ng/mL was the optimal cut-off value. In patients with a PSA value <1.16 ng/mL, 26.8 % of 1,426 11C-choline PET/CT scans were positive, with oligometastatic disease in 84.7 % of positive scans.

Conclusion

In a large cohort of patients, the feasibility of 11C-choline PET/CT for detecting the sites of metastatic disease in PCa patients with BCR was confirmed. The PSA level was the main predictor of a positive scan with 1.16 ng/mL as the optimal cut-off value. In the majority of positive scans oligometastatic disease, potentially treatable with salvage therapies, was observed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the whole Nuclear Medicine Team for their invaluable collaboration and their daily contribution over recent years. The authors thank Dr. Joshua James Morigi (Nuclear Medicine, University of Bologna) for language revision.

Author contributions

Tiziano Graziani and Francesco Ceci contributed equally.

Data collection: Tiziano Graziani, Giulia Polverari and Giacomo Maria Lima.

Data analysis: Francesco Ceci and Tiziano Graziani.

Statistical analysis: Francesco Ceci.

Manuscript writing and editing: Francesco Ceci and Paolo Castellucci.

Final manuscript revision: Alessio Giuseppe Morganti, Andrea Ardizzoni, Riccardo Schiavina and Stefano Fanti.

Project supervision: Paolo Castellucci and Stefano Fanti.

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Correspondence to Paolo Castellucci.

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Ethical approval

This study was performed according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments.

Informed consent

Considering the retrospective design of the study, formal consent was not required.

Additional information

Tiziano Graziani and Francesco Ceci contributed equally to this work.

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Graziani, T., Ceci, F., Castellucci, P. et al. 11C-Choline PET/CT for restaging prostate cancer. Results from 4,426 scans in a single-centre patient series. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 43, 1971–1979 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-016-3428-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-016-3428-z

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