Prostate-Specific Antigen and Prostate-Specific Antigen Kinetics in Predicting 18F-Sodium Fluoride Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Positivity for First Bone Metastases in Patients with Biochemical Recurrence after Radical Prostatectomy

Application of next-generation imaging in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer

BACKGROUND

Biochemical recurrence (BCR) following primary interventional treatment occurs in approximately one-third of patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Next-generation imaging (NGI) can identify local and metastatic recurrence with greater sensitivity than conventional imaging, potentially allowing for more effective interventions. This narrative review examines the current clinical evidence on the utility of NGI for patients with BCR.

METHODS

A search of PubMed was conducted to identify relevant publications on NGI applied to BCR. Given other relevant recent reviews on the topic, this review focused on papers published between January 2018 to May 2023.

RESULTS

NGI technologies, including positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, have demonstrated increased sensitivity and selectivity for diagnosing BCR at prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations <2.0 ng/ml. Detection rates range between 46% and 50%, with decreasing PSA levels for choline (1-3 ng/ml), fluciclovine (0.5-1 ng/ml), and prostate-specific membrane antigen (0.2-0.49 ng/ml) PET radiotracers. Expert working groups and European and US medical societies recommend NGI for patients with BCR.

CONCLUSIONS

Available data support the improved detection performance and selectivity of NGI modalities versus conventional imaging techniques; however, limited clinical evidence exists demonstrating the application of NGI to treatment decision-making and its impact on patient outcomes. The emergence of NGI and displacement of conventional imaging may require a reexamination of the current definitions of BCR, altering our understanding of early recurrence. Redefining the BCR disease state by formalizing the role of NGI in patient management decisions will facilitate greater alignment across research efforts and better reflect the published literature.

Salvage therapy for prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy

More than 40% of men with intermediate-risk or high-risk prostate cancer will experience a biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Clinical guidelines for the management of these patients largely focus on the use of salvage radiotherapy with or without systemic therapy. However, not all patients with biochemical recurrence will go on to develop metastases or die from their disease. The optimal pre-salvage therapy investigational workup for patients who experience biochemical recurrence should, therefore, include novel techniques such as PET imaging and genomic analysis of radical prostatectomy specimen tissue, as well as consideration of more traditional clinical variables such as PSA value, PSA kinetics, Gleason score and pathological stage of disease. In patients without metastatic disease, the only known curative intervention is salvage radiotherapy but, given the therapeutic burden of this treatment, importance must be placed on accurate timing of treatment, radiation dose, fractionation and field size. Systemic therapy also has a role in the salvage setting, both concurrently with radiotherapy and as salvage monotherapy.

Innovations in imaging modalities for recurrent and metastatic prostate cancer: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

The last decade has witnessed tremendous changes in the management of advanced and metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. In the current systematic review, we analyze novel imaging techniques in the setting of recurrent and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa), exploring available data and highlighting future exams which could enter clinical practice in the upcoming years.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

The National Library of Medicine Database was searched for relevant articles published between January 2012 and August 2017. A wide search was performed including the combination of following words: "Prostate" AND "Cancer" AND ("Metastatic" OR "Recurrent") AND "imaging" AND ("MRI" OR "PET"). The selection procedure followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) principles and is presented using a PRISMA flow chart.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Novel imaging techniques, as multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whole-body MRI and Choline and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging techniques are currently revolutioning the treatment planning in patients with advanced and metastatic PCa, allowing a better characterization of the disease. Multiparametric MRI performs well in the detection of local recurrences, with sensitivity rates of 67-98% and overall diagnostic accuracy of 83-93%, depending on the type of magnetic field strength (1.5 vs. 3T). Whole body MRI instead shows a high specificity (>95%) for bone metastases. PET imaging, and in particular PSMA PET/CT, showed promising results in the detection of both local and distant recurrences, even for low PSA values (<0.5 ng/mL). Sensitivity varies from 77-98% depending on PSA value and PSA velocity.

CONCLUSIONS

Whole body-MRI, NaF PET, Choline-PET/CT and PSMA PET/CT are flourishing techniques which find great application in the field of recurrent and metastatic PCa, in the effort to reduce treatment of "PSA only" and rather focus our therapies on clinical tumor entities. Standardization is urgently needed to allow adequate comparison of results and diffusion on a large scale.