Androgen deprivation therapy influences the uptake of (11)C-choline in patients with recurrent prostate cancer: The preliminary results of a sequential PET/CT study - Abstract

Department of Nuclear Medicine, PAD. 30, Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138, Bologna, Italy.

 

The influence of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on (11)C-choline uptake in patients with prostate cancer (PC) has not yet been clarified. The aim of our study was to investigate this issue by means of sequential (11)C-choline positron emission tomography (PET)/CT in patients with recurrent PC.

We retrospectively studied 14 recurrent PC patients (mean age 67 years, range 55-82) during follow-up after radical prostatectomy (RP) with rising serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. All patients had undergone at least two consecutive (11)C-choline PET/CT scans: the first (11)C-choline PET/CT before commencing ADT and the second (11)C-choline PET/CT after 6 months of ADT administration.

The mean serum PSA level before ADT was 17.0 ± 44.1 ng/ml. After 6 months of ADT administration the PSA value significantly decreased in comparison to baseline (PSA = 2.4 ± 3.1 ng/ml, p < .025). Moreover, before starting ADT, 13 of 14 patients had positive (11)C-choline PET/CT for metastatic spread, while after 6 months of ADT administration in 9 of 14 patients (11)C-choline PET/CT became negative.

These preliminary results suggest that ADT significantly reduces (11)C-choline uptake in androgen-sensitive PC patients.

Written by:
Fuccio C, Schiavina R, Castellucci P, Rubello D, Martorana G, Celli M, Malizia C, Profitos MB, Marzola MC, Pettinato V, Fanti S.   Are you the author?

Reference: Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2011 Jul 6. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s00259-011-1867-0

PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21732105

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