AccScience Publishing / ARNM / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/arnm.4590
REVIEW ARTICLE

68Ga-PSMA PET CT/MRI in the initial diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer: A review

Oluwatobi I. Akinmuleya1,2 Philip F. Cohen3 Kalevi Kairemo4,5*
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1 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shenyang Medical College, Liaoning, Shenyang, China
2 Department of Medicine, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ghana
3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver, Canada
4 Department of Theranostics, Docrates Cancer Center, Helsinki, Finland
5 Department of Nuclear Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
Submitted: 20 August 2024 | Accepted: 23 September 2024 | Published: 16 December 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) imaging has demonstrated potential in addressing prostate cancer (PCa) diagnostic difficulties. According to current guidelines, gallium-68 (68Ga)-PSMA-PET is used as an adjunct to traditional imaging modalities in patients with primary PCa. The purpose of this review, conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, is to give an overview of studies that have examined the role of 68Ga-PSMA in the initial diagnosis of PCa, its performance in TNM staging, its correlation with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, targeted biopsies, and the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) scores using computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The findings demonstrate that, in addition to MRI alone, combining 68Ga-PSMA-PET with MRI-targeted biopsy improves the initial identification of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa), particularly for ambiguous prostate imaging-reporting and data system (PI-RADS) three lesions. 68Ga-PSMA-PET/CT is useful when MRI results for csPCa are uncertain, but consistent techniques are required. Regarding risk assessment and therapy planning, 68Ga-PSMA-PET has a strong correlation with both PSA levels and ISUP scores. It accurately detects primary PCa lesions, making it suitable for high-risk patients. In 68Ga-PSMA-PET, higher maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) readings are linked to more aggressive illness. For N and M staging, 68Ga-PSMA-PET/CT is more sensitive and specific than conventional imaging; however, for T-staging, multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) provides better accuracy. 68Ga-PSMA-PET/MRI shows improved accuracy for primary PCa detection compared to mpMRI alone. Challenges include the lack of standardized SUVmax cutoff values. 68Ga-PSMA-PET is useful for the initial diagnosis and staging of PCa, complementing MRI, although further research is needed to standardize imaging techniques and interpretations.

Keywords
Prostate cancer
PSMA
Radionuclide
PET/CT
PET/MRI
Primary diagnosis
Clinically significant cancer
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
Kalevi Kairemo is the Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Advances in Radiotherapy & Nuclear Medicine, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4392 Published by AccScience Publishing