Men who had undergone curative intent treatment of histologically confirmed prostate cancer but who were suspected to have recurrence based on rising prostate specific antigen levels were enrolled prospectively. Each man had negative or equivocal findings on standard of care imaging. F-fluciclovine positron emission tomography/computerized tomography was performed according to standardized protocols. Treating physicians completed a questionnaire regarding the patient treatment plan before and after scanning, recording changes to the treatment modality (eg salvage radiotherapy to systemic androgen deprivation therapy) as major and changes in a modality (eg modified radiotherapy fields) as other.
Between June 2016 and May 2017, 213 evaluable patients with a median age of 67 years and median prostate specific antigen 1.00 ng/ml were enrolled in study. F-fluciclovine avid lesions were detected in 122 of the 213 patients (57%). Overall 126 of the 213 patients (59%) had a change in management after the scan, which were major in 98 of 126 (78%) and in 88 (70%) were informed by positive positron emission tomography/computerized tomography findings. The most frequent major changes were from salvage or noncurative systemic therapy to watchful waiting (32 of 126 cases or 25%), from noncurative systemic therapy to salvage therapy (30 of 126 or 24%) and from salvage therapy to noncurative systemic therapy (11 of 126 or 9%).
F-fluciclovine positron emission tomography/computerized tomography detected 1 or more recurrence sites in the majority of men with biochemical recurrence, frequently resulting in major changes to management plans. Future studies will be planned to determine whether a management change leads to improved outcomes.
Authors:
Andriole GL1,2, Kostakoglu L3, Chau A4, Duan F5, Mahmood U6, Mankoff DA7, Schuster DM8, Siegel BA9,2; LOCATE Study Group.
Author information:
- Division of Urologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
- Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
- Blue Earth Diagnostics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
- Department of Biostatistics and Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island.
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
- Division of Nuclear Medicine, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.