Evaluation of Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Based PET and MRI for the Detection of Multiple Cancer Foci in Localised Prostate Cancer Patients
Prostate cancer is difficult to detect on most imaging methods such as X-rays, Computed Tomography scans, conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans and conventional Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans. Therefore, reliable and advanced imaging tests are needed to locate prostate cancer accurately and to reflect the pathological features of the prostate.
Multiparametric (MP) MRI has become popular, complementing T2W images with diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging, and MR spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) to improve diagnostic accuracy. MP MRI remains imperfect because its sensitivities and specificities depend on technical factors and the composition of the study population. Therefore, there is still a need to identify prostate cancer accurately.
Recently, a preliminary study has demonstrated promising PET results with a novel PET radiotracer, [68Ga] Gallium labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen ligand (68Ga-PSMA), for the detection of prostate cancer relapses and metastases. Moreover, a study has shown that PET imaging with 68Ga-PSMA ligand can present lesions suspicious for prostate cancer with excellent contrast and a high detection rate even when the level of prostate specific antigen is low. However, the role of PET imaging with 68Ga-PSMA ligand in cancer foci detection in localised prostate cancer has not been well established.
In this study, 68Ga-PSMA PET and MP MRI will be compared with whole-mount pathology to evaluate the applicability of 68Ga-PSMA PET and MP MRI for detecting and locating tumour foci as well as to characterise 68Ga-PSMA uptake in patients with localised prostate cancer. All the imaging results will be compared with whole-mount prostate gland histology.
Investigators
| Peter Heathcote | APCRC-Q, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
| Paul Thomas | Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital |
| Simon Wood | APCRC-Q, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
| Sonja Greenslade | APCRC-Q, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
| Guy Lampe | Pathology Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
| Benjamin Shepherd | Pathology Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
| Colleen Nelson | APCRC-Q, IHBI, QUT, TRI |
| Pamela Russell | APCRC-Q, IHBI, QUT, TRI |
Associate Investigators
| Handoo Rhee | APCRC-Q, Princess Alexandra Hospital |
Duration
Funding
| Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation Cyril Gilbert Testimonial Fund | $50 000 |
