Search

Introduction: Despite the availability of sophisticated devices and suitable recommendations on how to best perform insulin injections, lipohypertrophy (LH) and bruising (BR) frequently occur as a consequence of improper injection technique. Aim: The purpose of this nationwide survey was to check literature-reported LH risk factors or consequences for any association with BR Method: This was a cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study based on the identification of skin lesions at all patient-reported insulin injection sites in 790 subjects with diabetes. General and injection habit-related elements were investigated as possible BR risk factors. Results: While confirming the close relationship existing between LH and a full series of factors including missed injection site rotation, needle reuse, long-standing insulin treatment, frequent hypoglycemic events (hypos), and great glycemic variability (GV), the observed data could find no such association with BR, which anyhow came with high HbA1c levels, missed injection site rotation, and long-standing insulin treatment. Conclusion: BR most likely depends on the patient's habit of pressing the injection pen hard onto the skin. Despite being worrisome and affecting quality of life, BR seems to represent a preliminary stage of LH but does not affect the rate of hypos and GV. Trial Registration: 207/19.09.2017 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In recent years, the clinical availability of scanners for integrated positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has enabled the practical potential of multimodal, combined metabolic-receptor, anatomical, and functional imaging to be explored. The present systematic review and meta-analysis summarize the diagnostic information provided by PET/MRI in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Materials and methods: A literature search was conducted in three different databases. The terms used were "choline" or "prostate-specific membrane antigen - PSMA" AND "prostate cancer" or "prostate" AND "PET/MRI" or "PET MRI" or "PET-MRI" or "positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging." All relevant records identified were combined, and the full texts were retrieved. Reports were excluded if (1) they did not consider hybrid PET/MRI; or (2) the sample size was < 10 patients; or (3) the raw data were not enough to enable the completion of a 2 × 2 contingency table. Results: Fifty articles were eligible for systematic review, and 23 for meta-analysis. The pooled data concerned 2104 patients. Initial disease staging was the main indication for PET/MRI in 24 studies. Radiolabeled PSMA was the tracer most frequently used. In primary tumors, the pooled sensitivity for the patient-based analysis was 94.9%. At restaging, the pooled detection rate was 80.9% and was higher for radiolabeled PSMA than for choline (81.8% and 77.3%, respectively). Conclusions: PET/MRI proved highly sensitive in detecting primary PCa, with a high detection rate for recurrent disease, particularly when radiolabeled PSMA was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine outcomes and toxicities after reirradiation for locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) and to apply a prognostic index in a non-endemic region. Methods: We retrospectively reported progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and treatment-related toxicities in patients treated with curative intent for locally rNPC. We applied the prognostic model for OS and grade 5 radiotherapy (RT)-related toxicities published by Li et al. and evaluated its prognostic accuracy by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Between 2005 and 2018, 33 patients were treated for rNPC in our institution. Median follow-up was 60 months. The mean time to local recurrence was 75 months. Six (18%) patients had a persistent grade 3 toxicity from a previous RT course. The median re-RT dose was 66 Gy. After re-RT, 13 patients had local failure and 3 patients had metastatic recurrence. Median PFS was 18 months with a 5-year PFS rate of 29%. Median OS was 35 months with a 5-year OS rate of 37%. Grade 3 or higher toxicities rate was 74%. There were 21% grade 5 toxicities. The median time to a grade 5 toxicity was less than 6 months following re-RT. The prognostic nomogram was not predictive for OS or grade 5 toxicities. Conclusion: Reirradiation of rNPC is an effective treatment but is associated with a high rate of life-threatening toxicity. Stratification of patients based on their risk of developing severe toxicity is needed to select patients who will most likely benefit from re-RT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prostate cancer is a common neoplasm but conventional imaging methods such as CT and bone scan are often insensitive. A new class of PET agents have emerged to diagnose and manage prostate cancer. Methods: The relevant literature on PET imaging agents for prostate cancer was reviewed. Results: This review shows a broad range of PET imaging agents, the most successful of which is prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET. Other agents either lack the sensitivity or specificity of PSMA PET. Conclusion: Among the available PET agents for prostate cancer, PSMA PET has emerged as the leader. It is likely to have great impact on the diagnosis, staging and management of prostate cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimed to explore the short- and long-term efficacy of surgery for early-stage NPC. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 341 patients diagnosed with early-stage NPC between September 2010 and December 2015. Among them, 58 patients underwent endoscopic nasopharyngectomy combined with chemoradiotherapy, whereas 283 patients underwent conventional chemoradiotherapy. The patients who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone were matched to patients who underwent surgery in a 1:2 ratio using propensity score matching to analyze the clinical efficacy of each therapeutic modality. The primary endpoint was survival, and the secondary endpoints were tumor regression rate and reduction in Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-DNA levels. Results: After matching, 156 patients were enrolled (58 patients in the surgery group; 98 patients in the non-surgery group). The baseline data of the matched patients had good inter-group comparability (All P> 0.05). The surgery group had significantly higher 5-year overall survival (98.30% vs. 91.70%), disease-free survival (98.30% vs. 81.40%), and recurrence-free survival (100.00% vs. 90.10%) rates than did the non-surgery group (All P< 0.05). In total, 0 and 14 patients in the surgery and non-surgery groups, respectively, had residual cancer at the end of treatment (P=0.001). All patients in the surgery group tested negative for EBV-DNA, whereas two patients in the non-surgery group tested positive. The incidence of hematologic toxicity during treatment was similar between the two groups (All P> 0.05). Still, the incidence of severe oral mucositis was lower in the surgery group than in the non-surgery group (37.9% vs. 54.08%, P=0.051). Conclusion: Surgery can improve the clearance rate of EB virus and reduce tumor residue. Surgery may be a safe and effective treatment for early NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imaging plays an increasing role in prostate cancer diagnosis and staging. Accurate staging of prostate cancer is required for optimal treatment planning. In detecting extraprostatic cancer and sites of early recurrence, traditional imaging methods (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, radionuclide bone scan) have suboptimal performance. This leaves a gap between known disease recurrence as indicated by rising prostate-specific antigen and the ability to localize the recurrence on imaging. Novel positron emission tomography (PET) agents including radiolabeled choline, fluciclovine (18F-FACBC), and agents targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen are being developed and tested to increase diagnostic performance of non-invasive prostate cancer localization. When combined with CT or MRI, these tracers offer a combination of functional information and anatomic localization that is superior to conventional imaging methods. These PET radiotracers have varying mechanisms and excretion patterns affecting their pharmacokinetics and diagnostic performance, which will be reviewed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To identify optimal machine learning methods for radiomics-based differentiation of local recurrence versus inflammation from post-treatment nasopharyngeal positron emission tomography/X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) images.Procedures: Seventy-six nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients were enrolled (41/35 local recurrence/inflammation as confirmed by pathology). Four hundred eighty-seven radiomics features were extracted from PET images for each patient. The diagnostic performance was investigated for 42 cross-combinations derived from 6 feature selection methods and 7 classifiers. Of the original cohort, 70 % was applied for feature selection and classifier development, and the remaining 30 % used as an independent validation set. The diagnostic performance was evaluated using area under the ROC curve (AUC), test error, sensitivity, and specificity. Furthermore, the performance of the radiomics signatures against routine features was statistically compared using DeLong's method.Results: The cross-combination fisher score (FSCR) + k-nearest neighborhood (KNN), FSCR + support vector machines with radial basis function kernel (RBF-SVM), FSCR + random forest (RF), and minimum redundancy maximum relevance (MRMR) + RBF-SVM outperformed others in terms of accuracy (AUC 0.883, 0.867, 0.892, 0.883; sensitivity 0.833, 0.864, 0.831, 0.750; specificity 1, 1, 0.873, 1) and reliability (test error 0.091, 0.136, 0.150, 0.136). Compared with conventional metrics, the radiomics signatures showed higher AUC values (0.867-0.892 vs. 0.817), though the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.462-0.560).Conclusion: This study identified the most accurate and reliable machine learning methods, which could enhance the application of radiomics methods in the precision of diagnosis of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Management of bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine neoplasia (NEN; pulmonary carcinoids [PCs], small-cell lung cancer [SCLC], and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma) is hampered by the paucity of biomarkers. Chromogranin A (CgA), the default neuroendocrine tumor biomarker, has undergone wide assessment in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Objectives: To evaluate CgA in lung NEN, define its clinical utility as a biomarker, assess its diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive efficacy, as well as its accuracy in the identification of disease recurrence. Methods: A systematic review of PubMed was undertaken using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. No language restrictions were applied. Overall, 33 original scientific papers and 3 case reports, which met inclusion criteria, were included in qualitative analysis, and meta-analysis thereafter. All studies, except 2, were retrospective. Meta-analysis statistical assessment by generic inverse variance methodology. Results: Ten different CgA assay types were reported, without consistency in the upper limit of normal (ULN). For PCs (n = 16 studies; median patient inclusion 21 [range 1–200, total: 591 patients]), the CgA diagnostic sensitivity was 34.5 ± 2.7% with a specificity of 93.8 ± 4.7. CgA metrics were not available separately for typical or atypical carcinoids. CgA >100 ng/mL (2.7 × ULN) and >600 ng/mL (ULN unspecified) were anecdotally prognostic for overall survival (n = 2 retrospective studies). No evidence was presented for predicting treatment response or identifying post-surgery residual disease. For SCLC (n = 19 studies; median patient inclusion 23 [range 5–251, total: 1,241 patients]), the mean diagnostic sensitivity was 59.9 ± 6.8% and specificity 79.4 ± 3.1. Extensive disease typically exhibited higher CgA levels (diagnostic accuracy: 61 ± 2.5%). An elevated CgA was prognostic for overall survival (n = 4 retrospective studies). No prospective studies evaluating predictive benefit or prognostic utility were identified. Conclusion: The available data are scarce. An assessment of all published data showed that CgA exhibits major limitations as an effective and accurate biomarker for either PC or SCLC. Its utility especially for localized PC/limited SCLC (when surgery is potentially curative), is limited. The clinical value of CgA remains to be determined. This requires validated, well-constructed, multicenter, prospective, randomized studies. An assessment of all published data indicates that CgA does not exhibit the minimum required metrics to function as a clinically useful biomarker for lung NENs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accurate staging is of major importance to determine the optimal treatment modality for patients with prostate cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET) with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a promising technique that outperformed conventional imaging in the detection of nodal and distant metastases in previous studies. However, it is still unclear whether the superior sensitivity and specificity also translate into improved patient management. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET for staging of intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer and its potential impact on disease management. Methods: In this retrospective analysis, 116 patients who underwent 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT or MRI scans for staging of their intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer between April 2016 and May 2018 were included. The potential impact of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET staging on patient management was assessed within a simulated multidisciplinary tumour board where hypothetical treatment decisions based on clinical information and conventional imaging alone was determined. This treatment decision was compared with the treatment recommendation based on clinical information and 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET imaging. Results: The primary tumour was positive on 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET in 113 patients (97%). Nodal metastases were detected in 28 patients (24%) and bone metastases in 14 patients (12%). Compared with clinical staging and conventional imaging, 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET resulted in new information in 42 of 116 patients (36%). In 32 of 116 patients (27%), this information would most likely have changed the management into a different therapy modality (15 patients, 13%) or adjusted treatment details (e.g. modification of radiotherapy field or lymph node dissection template; 17 patients, 14%). Conclusion: Information from 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET staging has the potential to change the management in more than a fourth of the patients who underwent PET staging for their intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer. Whether these more personalized 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET-based treatment decisions will improve patient outcome needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men. Despite its early diagnosis and improved curative treatments, the rate of recurrence remains high, with one in two cases relapsing within ten years. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with a radiotracer is most commonly used in prostate cancer. Indeed, prostate cancer is one of the malignancies known to have an increased metabolism of phosphatidylcholine, an essential component of the cell membrane, by increasing the level of choline kinase and increasing the rate of choline incorporation. The aim of this study is to determine the role of Choline Positron Emission Tomography (choline PET/CT) in prostate cancer through our experience and a literature review. Methods: This is a retrospective study carried out at the Sheikh Khalifa Hospital over 2 years from January 18, 2019, to January 31, 2021. The inclusion criteria were any patient with histologically confirmed prostate cancer who had undergone choline PET/CT in the Department of Nuclear Medicine. Results: During the study period the Nuclear Medicine Department performed (n=60) choline PET scans. The average age of patients is 67 years with extremes of 52 and 82 years. The average PSA level was 125 [0-1800]. The main indication was in the context of a biological relapse assessment, followed by an evaluation of the therapeutic response and in the context of an initial extension assessment. PET was able to detect local and/or distant lesions in 80% of patients in our series. Conclusion: As there is no PET scans with Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) in Morocco, choline PET is an alternative that has allowed better therapeutic management of our patients and thus the improvement of their prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare PET/CT, MRI and ultrasonography in detecting recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and identify their benefit in staging, contouring and overall survival (OS)., Methods: Cohort A included 1453 patients with or without histopathology-confirmed local recurrence, while cohort B consisted of 316 patients with 606 histopathology-confirmed lymph nodes to compare the sensitivities and specificities of PET/CT, MRI and ultrasonography using McNemar test. Cohorts C and D consisted of 273 patients from cohort A and 267 patients from cohort B, respectively, to compare the distribution of PET/CT-based and MRI-based rT-stage and rN-stage and the accuracy of rN-stage using McNemar test. Cohort E included 30 random patients from cohort A to evaluate the changes in contouring with or without PET/CT by related-samples T test or Wilcoxon rank test. The OS of 61 rT3-4N0M0 patients staged by PET/CT plus MRI (cohort F) and 67 MRI-staged rT3-4N0M0 patients (cohort G) who underwent similar salvage treatment were compared by log-rank test and Cox regression., Results: PET/CT had similar specificity to MRI but higher sensitivity (93.9% vs. 79.3%, P < 0.001) in detecting local recurrence. PET/CT, MRI and ultrasonography had comparable specificities, but PET/CT had greater sensitivity than MRI (90.9% vs. 67.6%, P < 0.001) and similar sensitivity to ultrasonography in diagnosing lymph nodes. According to PET/CT, more patients were staged rT3-4 (82.8% vs. 68.1%, P < 0.001) or rN + (89.9% vs. 69.3%, P < 0.001), and the rN-stage was more accurate (90.6% vs. 73.8%, P < 0.001). Accordingly, the contours of local recurrence were more precise (median Dice similarity coefficient 0.41 vs. 0.62, P < 0.001) when aided by PET/CT plus MRI. Patients staged by PET/CT plus MRI had a higher 3-year OS than patients staged by MRI alone (85.5% vs. 60.4%, P = 0.006; adjusted HR = 0.34, P = 0.005)., Conclusion: PET/CT more accurately detected and staged recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and accordingly complemented MRI, providing benefit in contouring and OS., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the value of [ 68 Ga]Ga-labelled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor ([ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the initial staging of patients with newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), compared with 2-deoxy-2[ 18 F]fluoro-D-glucose ([ 18 F]F-FDG) PET/CT., Materials and Methods: Forty-seven treatment-naïve patients with newly diagnosed NPC underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT and [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT within 1 week. The diagnostic efficiency of all imaging modalities for evaluating primary tumour extension was compared from the two aspects of soft tissue and bony structure involvement. The accuracy of two PET/CT methods for diagnosing cervical lymph node (CLN) metastases was compared, and MRI served as the standard reference. T and N stages were assessed by MRI, [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT and [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for FAP was conducted in 22 of the patients., Results: [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT outperformed [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT in the assessment of primary tumour invasion in the cavernous sinus (10 vs. 1, p < 0.001) and bony structures (207 vs. 177, p < 0.001). Compared with MRI, [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT upgraded and underestimated T stage in 13 and 2 patients, while [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT upgraded and underestimated T stage in 5 and 13 patients. However, [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT was inferior to [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosing positive CLNs based on the analyses of patients, neck sides, neck levels and individual nodes. [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT changed therapeutic schedules in 8 patients because of stage group changes. The presence of FAP with high quantity and intensity in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) was confirmed in all tumour specimens., Conclusion: [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT outperformed [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT in detecting the cavernous sinus and bony structure involvement of primary NPC tumours, suggesting its value in improving T staging and therapeutic regimen selection. However, the performance of [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT is less promising for N staging because it detected fewer positive CLNs than [ 18 F]F-FDG PET/CT., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to World Molecular Imaging Society.)

Background: Initial staging and assessment of treatment activity in metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) patients is controversial. Indications for the various available imaging modalities are not well-established due to rapid advancements in imaging and treatment. Methods: We conducted a critical literature review of the main imaging abnormalities that suggest a diagnosis of metastasis in localized and locally advanced PCa or in cases of biological relapse. We also assessed the role of the various imaging modalities available in routine clinical practice for the detection of metastases and response to treatment in metastatic PCa patients. Results: In published clinical trials, the most commonly used imaging modalities for the detection and evaluation of therapeutic response are bone scan, abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT), and pelvic and bone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For the detection and follow-up of metastases during treatment, modern imaging techniques i.e., choline-positron emission tomography (PET), fluciclovine-PET, or Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-PET provide better sensitivity and specificity. This is particularly the case of fluciclovine-PET and PSMA-PET in cases of biochemical recurrence with low values of prostate specific antigen. Conclusions: In routine clinical practice, conventional imaging still have a role, and communication between imagers and clinicians should be encouraged. Present and future clinical trials should use modern imaging methods to clarify their usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromogranin A (CgA), which is a major protein in adrenal chromaffin cells and adrenergic neurons, is a clinically relevant endocrine and neuroendocrine tumor marker including pheochromocytomas, neuroblastomas, and related neurogenic tumors. In this study, we looked at the effect in humans of chronic daily exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field. We examined in 15 men (38.0 ± 0.9 years) the effects of chronic daily exposure to a 50-Hz magnetic field for 1–20 yrs both at home and at work. EMDEX II dosimeters were used to record magnetic field all day long every 30 s. for 1 week. The weekly geometric mean of the individual exposures ranged from 0.1 to 2.6 μT. Blood samples were taken hourly between 20:00 h and 08:00 h. CgA patterns of exposed subjects were compared to age-matched controls. The results of exposed subjects were compared with those for 15 unexposed men who served as controls and whose individual exposure was ten times lower ranging from 0.004 to 0.092 μT. This work shows that in the control group the serum CgA levels exhibited a nighttime peak with a progressive decline of the serum concentrations and a nadir in the morning. Both the profile and the serum concentrations of CgA, a marker of neuroendocrine tumors and stress, did not appear to be impaired in the subjects chronically exposed over a long period (up to 20 yrs) to magnetic fields though a trend toward lower levels were found at the highest exposure (>0.3 μT). This does not rule out, however, that the potential deleterious risk of ELF-EMF on frail populations such as children and the elderly may be greater at low exposure and should hence be documented, at least for their residential exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the diagnostic performance of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-PET/CT, choline-PET/CT, Sodium Fluoride (NaF) PET/CT, MRI, and bone scintigraphy (BS) in detecting bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer.Methods: We searched PubMed and Embase for articles published between January 1990 and September 2018. Two evaluators independently extracted the sensitivity, specificity, the numbers of true and false positives, and true and false negatives. We calculated the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each method. We calculated the tests' diagnostic odds ratios (DOR); drew the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves; and obtained the areas under the curves (AUC), Q* values, and 95% CIs.Results: The per-patient pooled sensitivities of PSMA-PET/CT, choline-PET/CT, NaF-PET/CT, MRI, and BS were 0.97, 0.87, 0.96, 0.91, and 0.86, respectively. The pooled specificities were 1.00, 0.99, 0.97, 0.96, and 0.95, respectively. The pooled DOR values were 504.16, 673.67, 242.63, and 114.44, respectively. The AUC were 1.00, 0.99, 0.99, 0.98, and 0.95, respectively. The per-lesion pooled sensitivities of PSMA-PET/CT, choline-PET/CT, NaF-PET/CT, MRI, and bone imaging were 0.88, 0.80, 0.97, 0.81 and 0.68, respectively.Conclusions: According to the meta-analysis, PSMA-PET/CT had the highest per-patient sensitivity and specificity in detecting bone metastases with prostate cancer. The sensitivities of NaF-PET/CT and MRI were better than those for choline-PET/CT and BS. The specificity of PSMA-PET/CT was significantly better than BS. Others were similar. For per-lesion, NaF-PET/CT had the highest sensitivity, PSMA-PET/CT had higher sensitivity than choline-PET/CT and MRI, and BS had the lowest sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Along with a number of other malignancies, the term "oligometastatic" prostate cancer has recently emerged. It represents an attempt to define a subtype of cancer with a limited metastatic load that might perform more favorably than a distinctly disseminated disease, or even one that may be managed in a potentially curative way. Since there is currently a knowledge gap of what imaging modalities should be utilized to classify patients as having this type of tumor, we aimed to shed light on the role of conventional and marker-based imaging in the setting of synchronous oligometastatic prostate cancer as well as summarize the available evidence for its clinical application. Methods: A literature search on December 15th 2017 was conducted using the Pubmed database. Results: Functional imaging techniques like 68Ga PSMA. 68Ga PSMA PET-CT has currently been shown the best detection rates for the assessment of nodal, bone and visceral metastases, especially for smaller lesions at low PSA levels. Conclusions: Functional imaging helps detect low-burden disease metastatic patients. However, these imaging modalities are not available in every center and thus clinicians may be prone to prescribe systemic treatment rather than referring patients for cytoreductive treatments. We hope that the ongoing prospective trials will help guide clinicians in making a more personalized management of synchronous metastatic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Czech Radiology / Ceska Radiologie is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of the post-radiotherapy 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) response for detecting residual disease and predicting survival outcome in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer. We reviewed 143 patients with nasopharyngeal cancer who underwent 18F-FDG PET within 6 months after completion of radiotherapy between 2001 and 2012. 18F-FDG PET findings at the primary tumor (T–) and regional lymph nodes (N–) were separately assessed and considered negative [PET (–)] or positive [PET (+)] depending on the remaining focal increased uptake of 18F-FDG that was greater than that of the surrounding muscle or blood vessels. The standard of reference was histopathological confirmation or clinical/imaging follow-up. Overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS) rates were estimated from the date of the start of radiotherapy. The median follow-up period was 73 months (range, 9–182 months). Overall, 83 and 66% of patients achieved T–PET (-) and N–PET (-) responses, and the negative-predictive values (NPVs) for T– and N– were 100 and 99%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive-predictive value were 100, 84, and 8% for T–, and 67, 80, and 7% for N–, respectively. The 5-year OS, DMFS, and LRRFS rates were 83, 83, and 87%, respectively, and patients with N–PET (+) with SUVmax >2.5 showed significantly inferior 5-year OS and DMFS rates than patients with N–PET (-) or N–PET (+) with SUVmax ≤2.5 (44 vs 86%, p = 0.004; 36 vs 85%, p < 0.001). In patients that have received definitive (chemo)radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer, 18F-FDG PET within 6 months of completion of treatment has a high NPV for predicting residual disease and is prognostic for long-term treatment outcomes. Patients with remaining focal increased uptake of 18F-FDG at lymph nodes may benefit from more aggressive treatments, and further studies are needed to validate the clinical significance of post-radiotherapy 18F-FDG PET. We found that post-radiotherapy 18F-FDG PET findings have a high NPV for detecting residual disease and are a significant prognostic factor for treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether digital photon counting technology in digital PET/CT influences the quantification of SUVmax in target lesions and regions of reference compared to analog PET/CT before an interchangeable use of either system in follow up studies. Methods: From January to June of 2018, 100 oncological patients underwent successive PET/CT imaging with digital and analog systems in the same day. Fifty-eight patients underwent analog imaging first and digital imaging thereafter, and 42 patients the other way round. SUVmax was measured in reference regions (liver and mediastinal blood pool) and in the most metabolically active target lesion in each patient. According to the sequence order of PET/CT acquisition, two groups of SUVmax values were obtained, i.e. group 1: analog PET/CT performed first; group 2: digital PET/CT performed first. Results: Mean SUVmax in the total sample (regardless of the order of PET/CT acquisition) in the target lesions with the analog PET/CT was 8.14 ± 6.39 and the digital 9.97 ± 6.14 (P = 0.000). Total mean SUVmax in the liver with the analog was 4.39 ± 2.59 and the digital 4.46 ± 3.18 (P = 0.477). Total mean SUVmax in the mediastinal blood pool with the analog was 2.30 ± 0.67 and the digital 2.54 ± 0.74 (P = 0.000). Group 1: mean SUVmax in the target lesions with the analog system was 6.64 ± 4.71 and the digital 9.48 ± 5.60 (P = 0.000). Mean liver SUVmax with the analog was 4.70 ± 2.90 and the digital 4.80 ± 3.72 (P = 0.088). Mediastinal blood pool SUVmax with the analog was 2.33 ± 0.66 and the digital 2.45 ± 0.73 (P = 0.041). Group 2: mean SUVmax in target lesions with the digital system was 10.63 ± 6.88 and the analog 10.16 ± 7.76 (P = 0.046). Mean liver SUVmax with the digital was 3.99 ± 2.20 and the analog 3.96 ± 2.04 (P = 0.218). Mediastinal blood pool SUVmax with the digital was 2.66 ± 0.75 and the analog 2.27 ± 0.68 (P = 0.000). No significant differences between both time delays were found. Conclusions: Improved photon counting technology in the digital PET/CT, and the effect of delayed increased uptake and retention significantly increases SUVmax values. This has to be taken into account before interchangeable use of either system in follow up studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is currently one of the most important emerging imaging modalities. Due to its high cost, appropriate guidance for use of the modality should be tailored to the context of each country. The present review aimed to provide guidance for appropriate use of PET/CT in Thailand. Materials and Methods: Studies of PET/CT use in the top ten most prevalent cancers in Thailand and in Cardiology and Neurology between January 1, 2005 and March 31, 2015 were searched. Four nuclear medicine physicians summarized and synthesized the evidence regarding use of PET/CT in target conditions. Summarized evidence was presented to a multidisciplinary panel of experts, and recommendations for PET/CT use were made. Results: Recommendations regarding F18-FDG PET/CT use are presented in the present review. This information should help policy makers in deciding the indications that F18-FDG PET/CT should made reimbursable in the key health insurance schemes. Conclusion: The present study is the first published recommendation, from reviewed of the literatures, on the appropriate use of PET/CT in Thailand. This should help clinicians and healthcare policy makers in their decision regarding the use and benefit of PET/CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-choline PETCT in staging prostate cancer (PC) and whether the use of this imaging modality changes the therapeutic decision in patients previously staged by conventional imaging. The secondary aim was to determine the prognostic factors associated with positive choline PETCT findings in both detection of disseminated disease and in changes in the therapeutic indication. Materials and methods: Multicentre, retrospective, observational study of 269 patients diagnosed with PC. Mean age was 69 ± 9.2 years. Of the 269 patients, 62 (23%) had high-risk localized PC (group 1), 118 (43.9%) biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy (group 2), and 89 (33.1%) biochemical failure after radiotherapy (group 3). None of the patients showed clear evidence of distant disease on computed tomography or bone scans. The following potential prognostic factors were assessed: PSA level at diagnosis; primary and secondary Gleason; Gleason score (GS); clinical and pathologic T and N stage; number of positive cylinders in the biopsy; presence of vascular or lymphatic invasion; status of surgical margins; androgen deprivation therapy (ADT); time to biochemical recurrence; and PSA, PSA doubling time (PSADT), and PSA velocity (PSAV) at failure. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed, and receiver-operating curves calculated. Results: The mean PSA by groups was, group 1: 31.22 ng/ml, group 2: 2.52 ng/ml and group 3: 5.85 ng/ml. The tumor detection rate with 18F-choline PETCT was 74% (group 1: 85.5%, group 2: 55.1% and group 3: 91%). Prognostic factors for positive 18F-choline PETCT were identified only in group 2: PSA at failure and PSADT. 18F-choline PETCT changed the therapeutic indication in 62.8% (group 1: 71%, group 2: 55.2% and group 3: 70.1%). The prognostic factors for a change in treatment were identified only in group 1: secondary Gleason ≤ 4 and GS ≤ 7 and in group 2: PSA at failure, PSA nadir after surgery and pathologic stage N0. 18F-choline PETCT identified lymph node and/or metastatic disease in 32.7% (group 1: 25.8%, group 2: 29.7% and group 3: 41.6%). Prognostic factors for detecting lymph node/metastasis were identified in the group 2: PSA failure ≥ 1.37 ng/ml and PSADT < 4 months and in the group 3: PSADT < 4.6 months and time to failure < 5 years. Conclusion: These findings support the clinical use de 18F-choline PET-CT in staging high-risk patients with a secondary Gleason ≤ 4 and GS ≤ 7, in restaging patients with biochemical recurrence after RP if PSA at failure ≥ 1.37 ng/ml or PSADT ≤ 4 months and in patients with biochemical failure after RT, if PSADT ≤ 4.6 months and time to failure < 5 years, because it determines a change in the therapeutic indication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Thyroid incidentaloma is defined as a thyroid lesion incidentally and newly detected by imaging techniques performed for an unrelated purpose and especially for a non-thyroid disease. Aim of this review is to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of focal incidental radiolabelled choline uptake in the thyroid gland (CTI) revealed by PET or PET/CT. Methods: A comprehensive computer literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases was conducted to find relevant published articles about the prevalence and clinical significance of CTIs detected by PET or PET/CT in patients studied for other oncologic purposes. Results: Fifteen articles (14 case reports, one retrospective study on a larger population sample) were included in the systematic review. Considering the case reports, 7/14 CTIs were benign and 7/14 malignant. In the retrospective study on a larger population sample, 14/15 CTIs which underwent further investigations were benign. Conclusion: Despite very rare but probably underestimated, CTIs frequently signal in the presence of unexpected lesions in the thyroid that differ from the indicated reason for which the patient was initially scanned, and the risk of malignancy is not negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Characterization of thyroid nodules is crucial to propose surgical intervention for histological verification. Cervical ultrasound potentially combined with fine needle aspiration is recommended, and fluorocholine positron emission tomography (FCH-PET), commonly used in prostatic cancers, has been evaluated in the diagnosis of thyroid cancers in recent publications. Methods: We present two cases of patients with multinodular thyroid and primary hyperparathyroidism. The preoperative assessment consisted of an ultrasound, a MIBI scintigraphy and an FCH-PET in favor of a parathyroid adenoma. Results: The imaging examinations pointed to a diagnosis of a parathyroid adenoma. In both cases, papillary thyroid carcinoma, missed by FCH-PET, was discovered incidentally at a distance from the parathyroid adenoma during the surgical procedure. Conclusions: These are the first descriptions of thyroid papillary carcinoma without preoperative FCH-PET identification. These clinical cases are contrary to recent publications showing a benefit of this examination in the diagnosis of thyroid cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical value of serum chromogranin A (CgA) levels in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) and to compare them with tumour expression of CgA. A total of 109 consecutive patients with confirmed GEP-NENs were enrolled in this prospective study between December 2012 and August 2016, including 73 patients with primary or recurrent GEP-NENs and 36 patients with GEP-NENs that were treated following surgery. Furthermore, 30 patients with benign gastrointestinal diseases and 30 healthy volunteers served as control groups. Serum CgA levels were measured by ELISA, using different reference values, in order to evaluate its diagnostic efficacy. Serum neuron-specific enolase was also measured to evaluate its diagnostic efficacy and analyse its association with serum CgA levels. The levels of CgA, synaptophysin and neural cell adhesion molecule 1 in the tumour tissue were assessed by immunohistochemical assays. The results indicated that serum CgA levels were significantly higher in patients with GEP-NENs compared with the control groups (P<0.05). No association was observed between serum CgA levels and tumour grade (G1, G2 and G3), but serum CgA levels differed significantly between patients with GEP-NENs of different origins (P<0.05). A serum CgA cut-off value of 85.3 ng/ml was associated with high sensitivity (64.4%) and specificity (92.7%). Different reference values were recommended for NENs of different origins, with serum CgA cut-off values of 96.72, 51.13 and 86.19 ng/ml for the stomach, intestines and pancreas, respectively. The serum CgA levels were consistent with the CgA expression in the tumour. In conclusion, serum CgA may serve as a circulating pathological biomarker for the diagnosis of GEP-NENs. The use of different reference values for different tumour origins may improve the diagnostic efficacy of CgA for GEP-NENs. A cut-off value of 85.3 ng/ml is recommended in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The concept of metastasis-directed therapy for nodal oligorecurrences with stereotactic body radiotherapy is increasingly accepted. Hence, the comparison between salvage extended field radiotherapy (s-EFRT) and salvage involved field radiotherapy (s-IFRT) in patients with 18F-fluorocholine (FCH) PET/CT+ nodal oligorecurrences from prostate cancer is worthy of investigation.Methods: Patients with oligorecurrent nodes on FCH PET/CT treated with salvage radiotherapy between 2009 and 2017 in a single tertiary cancer centre were selected for this study. Patients treated with s-IFRT were compared with those treated with s-EFRT. Toxicities and times to failure (TTF) were compared between the two groups.Results: The study included 62 patients with positive lymph nodes only who underwent FCH PET/CT for a rising PSA level after radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy. Of these patients, 35 had s-IFRT and 27 had s-EFRT. After a median follow-up of 41.8 months (range 5.9-108.1 months), no differences were observed in acute or late gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicities of grade 2 or more between the two groups. The 3-year failure rates were 55.3% (95% CI 37.0-70.3%) in the s-IFRT group and 88.3% (95% CI 66.9-96.1%) in the s-EFRT group (p = 0.0094). In multivariate analysis of TTF, an interval of >5 years was significantly correlated with better outcomes (HR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.13-0.86, p = 0.023). There was a strong trend toward better outcomes with s-EFRT even after adjusting for concomitant androgen-deprivation therapy (HR = 0.38, 95% CI 0.12-1.27, p = 0.116).Conclusion: FCH PET-positive node-targeted s-EFRT is feasible with low rates of toxicity and longer TTF, suggesting that oligorecurrent nodal disease diagnosed on FCH PET is unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in five electronic databases were systematically searched online from the inception to June 5, 2018. Quality of the included studies was assessed using the updated Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2. Data of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and the 95% confidence intervals were pooled using a bivariate random‐effect model. Forty‐four studies with 61 groups of data and totally 3369 patients were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis analysis. The overall estimated sensitivity and specificity of positron emission tomography/computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET‐CT/MRI) for local recurrent/residual NPC were 0.90 and 0.85, respectively. The pooled area under the curve of (AUC) of PET‐CT/MRI in the summary receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.94. Subgroup analysis showed MRI vs PET‐CT had lower sensitivity (0.83 vs 0.92) and specificity (0.78 vs 0.89). The AUCs of MRI and PET‐CT were 0.87 and 0.96, respectively. No‐cross of 95% CI was found in MRI vs PET/CT (0.87‐0.90 vs 0.94‐0.98). Meta‐regression showed PET/CT vs MRI was a potential source of heterogeneity. PET/CT and MRI both showed quite high overall ability in diagnosing local recurrent/residual NPC, but the subgroup analysis indicated PET‐CT was superior over MRI in diagnosis of local recurrence and residue of NPC after radiotherapy. The examination methods affected the heterogeneity within studies. The overall diagnostic ability of PET/CT and MRI is quite high for local recurrence/residue of NPC. Subgroup analysis indicated that the PET‐CT is superior to MRI in the diagnosis of local recurrence and residue of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy. The examination methods affected the heterogeneity within studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of F-18 Fluorocholine (FCH) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland in patients with hyperparathyroidism (HPT) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. The MEDLINE/PubMed and EMBASE database, from the earliest available date of indexing through April 30, 2018, were searched for studies evaluating the diagnostic performance of F-18 FCH PET/CT for localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland in patients with HPT. We determined the sensitivities and specificities across studies, calculated positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR−), and constructed summary receiver operating characteristic curves. Across eight studies (272 patients), the pooled sensitivity for F-18 FCH PET/CT was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.86-0.94) without heterogeneity (I2 = 7.1) and a pooled specificity of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.90-0.96) with heterogeneity (I2 = 79.8). Likelihood ratio (LR) syntheses gave an overall positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of 5.3 (95% CI, 1.2-24.3) and negative likelihood ratio (LR−) of 0.15 (95% CI, 0.08-0.29). The pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 38 (95% CI, 8-174). Hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicates that the areas under the curve were 0.9492 (SE, 0.0215). In meta-regression analysis, no definite variable was the source of the study heterogeneity. The current meta-analysis showed the high sensitivity and specificity of F-18 FCH PET/CT for localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland. At present, the literature regarding the use of F-18 FCH PET/CT for localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland remains still limited; thus, further large multicenter studies would be necessary to substantiate the diagnostic accuracy of F-18 FCH PET/for localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland in patients with HPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accurate staging of patients with prostate cancer (PCa) is important for therapeutic decision‐making. Relapse after surgery or radiotherapy of curative intent is not uncommon and, in part, represents a failure of staging with current diagnostic imaging techniques to detect disease spread. Prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron‐emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is a new whole‐body scanning technique that enables visualization of PCa with high contrast. The hypotheses of this study are that: (i) PSMA‐PET/CT has improved diagnostic performance compared with conventional imaging; (ii) PSMA‐PET/CT should be used as a first‐line diagnostic test for staging; (iii) the improved diagnostic performance of PSMA‐PET/CT will result in significant management impact; and (iv) there are economic benefits if PSMA‐PET/CT is incorporated into the management algorithm. Objectives and Methods: The proPSMA trial is a prospective, multicentre study in which patients with untreated high‐risk PCa will be randomized to gallium‐68‐PSMA‐11 PET/CT or conventional imaging, consisting of CT of the abdomen/pelvis and bone scintigraphy with single‐photon emission CT/CT. Patients eligible for inclusion are those with newly diagnosed PCa with select high‐risk features, defined as International Society of Urological Pathology grade group ≥3 (primary Gleason grade 4, or any Gleason grade 5), prostate‐specific antigen level ≥20 ng/mL or clinical stage ≥T3. Patients with negative, equivocal or oligometastatic disease on first line‐imaging will cross over to receive the other imaging arm. The primary objective is to compare the accuracy of PSMA‐PET/CT with that of conventional imaging for detecting nodal or distant metastatic disease. Histopathological, imaging and clinical follow‐up at 6 months will define the primary endpoint according to a predefined scoring system. Secondary objectives include comparing management impact, the number of equivocal studies, the incremental value of second‐line imaging in patients who cross over, the cost of each imaging strategy, radiation exposure, inter‐observer agreement and safety of PSMA‐PET/CT. Longer‐term follow‐up will also assess the prognostic value of a negative PSMA‐PET/CT. Outcome and Significance: This trial will provide data to establish whether PSMA‐PET/CT should replace conventional imaging in the primary staging of select high‐risk localized PCa, or whether it should be used to provide incremental diagnostic information in selected cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for the detection of bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched up to 20 February 2018 for studies that used 11C-choline or 18F-choline PET/CT for the detection of bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer and “histopathology and/or clinical follow-up” as the reference standard. Methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. Pooled diagnostic accuracy with the 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using a bivariate random effects model. We also constructed hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves and performed meta-regression analyses. Results: Fourteen studies with reasonable methodological quality were included in the analysis. On a per-patient basis, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.89 (95% CI 0.80–0.94), 0.98 (95% CI 0.95–0.99), 40.4 (95% CI 19.7–82.6), 0.12 (95% CI 0.07–0.20), and 344 (95% CI 148–803), respectively. On a per-lesion basis, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and DOR were 0.91 (95% CI 0.85–0.94), 0.97 (95% CI 0.95–0.98), 34.1 (95% CI 20.0–58.1), 0.10 (95% CI 0.06–0.16), and 358 (95% CI 165–778), respectively. In the meta-regression analysis, the clinical setting (staging vs. restaging) was the only source of study heterogeneity on a per-patient basis. Conclusions: Choline PET/CT shows excellent diagnostic performance for the detection of bone metastasis. However, a negative choline PET/CT result cannot ensure the lack of bone metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most common cancers in males, is a topic of active interest in imaging research. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) have enabled the combination of morphologic and functional imaging with the promise of providing better information in guiding therapy. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose, the workhorse radiopharmaceutical in PET imaging, has not found preference in PCa since these tumors show poor glucose uptake and can be obscured by the normal urinary excretion of the radiotracer. Hence, the last two decades have seen the development of multiple newer radiotracers and better optimization of the technical aspects of PET imaging. The combination of functional imaging and MRI holds great promise. We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed literature concerning the advances and newer developments in the imaging of PCa between the years 2005 and 2017. This review aims at summarizing current evidence on the role of PET imaging in PCa and its impact on the diagnosis, staging, prognostication, response assessment, and restaging of this malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are characterized by having behavior and prognosis that depend upon tumor histology, primary site, staging, and proliferative index. The symptoms associated with carcinoid syndrome and vasoactive intestinal peptide tumors are treated with octreotide acetate. The PROMID trial assesses the effect of octreotide LAR on the tumor growth in patients with well-differentiated metastatic midgut NETs. The CLARINET trial evaluates the effects of lanreotide in patients with nonfunctional, well-, or moderately differentiated metastatic enteropancreatic NETs. Everolimus has been approved for the treatment of advanced pancreatic NETs (pNETs) based on positive PFS effects, obtained in the treated group. Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of patients with progressive gastrointestinal stromal tumor or intolerance to imatinib, because a randomized study demonstrated that it improves PFS and overall survival in patients with advanced well-differentiated pNETs. In a phase II trial, pasireotide shows efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of patients with advanced NETs, whose symptoms of carcinoid syndrome were resistant to octreotide LAR. An open-label, phase II trial assesses the clinical activity of long-acting repeatable pasireotide in treatment-naive patients with metastatic grade 1 or 2 NETs. Even if the growth of the neoplasm was significantly inhibited, it is still unclear whether its antiproliferative action is greater than that of octreotide and lanreotide. Because new therapeutic options are needed to counter the natural behavior of neuroendocrine tumors, it would also be useful to have a biochemical marker that can be addressed better in the management of these patients. Chromogranin A is currently the most useful biomarker to establish diagnosis and has some utility in predicting disease recurrence, outcome, and efficacy of therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous studies in prostate cancer (PCa) patients tried to correlate the onset of local recurrence (LR) with the development of distant metastases and formulated, based on theoretical and experimental data, hypotheses linking the two events. We aimed to address this issue with 11C-choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT).Methods: This retrospective study included 491 PCa patients previously treated with radical prostatectomy who had undergone 11C-choline PET/CT owing to biochemical failure. Further inclusion criteria were availability of clinical and pathological variables for survival analysis. Statistical significance was taken at P < 0.05.Results: Seventy-two patients (14.7%) had evidence of LR at 11C-choline PET/CT. The frequency of LR increased from 13.8% in the interval 0-4 years after prostatectomy, to 23.9% in the 12-16-year interval (P = 0.080). On the contrary, the frequency of lymph node metastases (overall rate in the 0-16 years interval after prostatectomy: 26.3%) and of bone metastases (overall rate: 13.8%) decreased significantly over time. Kaplan-Meier curves showed no significant group difference in the rates of lymph node or bone metastases between patients with LR and patients without LR. LR significantly predicted PCa-specific survival at univariate analysis, but the statistical significance was lost at multivariate analysis.Conclusion: We found no differences in the rates of lymph node and bone metastases between patients with and without LR. An inverse time-dependent trend was observed in the frequency of LR on one side and of lymph node and bone metastases on the other side. These findings were discussed in relation to previous theories linking LR to distant metastases and our study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Bone metastases are common, cause significant morbidity, and impact on healthcare resources. Although radiography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bone scintigraphy have frequently been used for staging the skeleton, these methods are insensitive and nonspecific for monitoring treatment response in a clinically relevant time frame. We summarize several recent reports on new functional and hybrid imaging methods including single photon emission CT/CT, positron emission tomography/CT, and whole‐body MRI with diffusion‐weighted imaging. These modalities generally show improvements in diagnostic accuracy for staging and response assessment over standard imaging methods, with the ability to quantify biological processes related to the bone microenvironment as well as tumor cells. As some of these methods are now being adopted into routine clinical practice and clinical trials, further evaluation with comparative studies is required to guide optimal and cost‐effective clinical management of patients with skeletal metastases. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of integrated 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) for suspected recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with non-disseminated lesions. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of recurrent EOC patients who underwent secondary cytoreduction from January 2000 to December 2013. A total of 134 patients underwent secondary cytoreduction after imaging with either 18F-FDG-PET/CT or contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT). Results: In a patient-based analysis of 134 patients, 124 (92.5%) were confirmed to be positive for malignancy. Among 72 patients with suspected non-disseminated recurrence on 18F-FDG-PET/CT, 65 (89.0%) were confirmed to have recurrence, giving 98.5% sensitivity, 87.7% accuracy, and 88.9% positive predictive value (PPV). In the 65 patients with recurrence, residual tumor remained in 14 patients, giving an accuracy of patient selection for secondary cytoreduction of 69.4% (50/72) and it is higher than that of CECT (64.0%). In 169 lesions removed from patients who underwent preoperative 18F-FDG-PET/CT, 135 (79.9%) were confirmed to be positive for malignancy and 124 were accurately detected by 18F-FDG-PET/ CT, giving 91.9% sensitivity, 81.1% accuracy, and 85.5% PPV. Foreign body granuloma was found in 33.3% of 21 lesions with false-positive 18F-FDG-PET/CT findings (7/21). The mean preoperative cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) level in false-positive patients was 28.8 U/mL. Conclusion: Compared with CECT, 18F-FDG-PET/CT shows higher sensitivity in lesion-based analysis and better accuracy of patient selection for secondary cytoreduction. However, there is still a need for integration of the results of 18F-FDG-PET/CT, CECT, and CA-125 levels to aid treatment planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the study was to compare the kinetic analysis of 18F-labeled choline (FCH) uptake with static analysis and clinicopathological parameters in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PC).Materials and Methods: Sixty-one patients were included. PSA was performed few days before FCH PET/CT. Gleason scoring (GS) was collected from systematic sextant biopsies. FCH PET/CT consisted in a dual phase: early pelvic list-mode acquisition (from 0 to10 min post-injection) and late whole-body acquisition (60 min post-injection). PC volume of interest was drawn using an adaptative thresholding (40% of the maximal uptake) on the late acquisition and projected onto an early static frame of 10 min and each of the 20 reconstructed frames of 30 s. Kinetic analysis was performed using an imaging-derived plasma input function. Early kinetic parameter (K1 as influx) and static parameters (early SUVmean, late SUVmean, and retention index) were extracted and compared to clinicopathological parameters.Results: K1 was significantly, but moderately correlated with early SUVmean (r = 0.57, p < 0.001) and late SUVmean (r = 0.43, p < 0.001). K1, early SUVmean, and late SUVmean were moderately correlated with PSA level (respectively, r = 0.36, p = 0.004; r = 0.67, p < 0.001; r = 0.51, p < 0.001). Concerning GS, K1 was higher for patients with GS ≥ 4 + 3 than for patients with GS < 4 + 3 (median value 0.409 vs 0.272 min- 1, p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed for static parameters.Conclusions: FCH influx index K1 seems to be related to GS and could be a non-invasive tool to gain further information concerning tumor aggressiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Inadequate clinical target volume (CTV) definition is likely to be a major contributing factor to local recurrence (LR) rate after radiotherapy. Our aims were to identify sites of prostate cancer LR in biochemical recurrence post-prostatectomy using18F-Fluorocholine (18F-FCH) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and to compare different CTV-delineation guidelines in a cohort of postoperative patients. Material and methods:Thirty-six patients presenting with LR within the prostatic bed on 18F-FCH PET/CT between 10/2011 and 06/2016 were included in this retrospective study. Median PSA at the time of 18F-FCH PET/CT was 2.7 ng/mL (0.8–9.4) and median PSA doubling time was 11 months (3–28). For each patient, the CTVRTOG, CTVFROGGand CTVEORTCfollowing the corresponding guidelines were outlined and compared. Forty-one LR were delineated using a gradient-based method and the percentage of FCH uptake included in each CTV was evaluated. Results:The anastomosis was the most common recurrence site (52.8%), followed by the retrovesical region (31.7%) and the bladder neck (7%). The median SUV max value was 4.8 (2.3–16.1). The percentage of LR entirely included in the CTVRTOGwas not significantly different from that included in the CTVFROGG(84% versus 83%,p = .5). Significantly more recurrences were included in the CTVRTOGvolume compared to the CTVEORTC(84% versus 68%,p=.006), due to a better coverage of the bladder neck and retrovesical regions. Six out of 10 relapses occurring in the posterior region of the anastomosis were not covered by any of the CTVs. Conclusions:In our study, the CTVRTOGand CTVFROGGensured the best coverage of LR seen on 18F-FCH PET/CT. When outlining the prostatic fossa, greater coverage of the posterior vesico-urethral region may allow better coverage of potential microscopic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Despite the increasing use of 18 F-fluorocholine ( 18 F-FCH) positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with prostate cancer, the acquisition protocol remains debated. We have evaluated the influence of the pelvic dynamic phase on the final reading of whole-body 18 F-FCH PET, to assess the need for a two-stage protocol. Reading the physician's experience and patient's previous treatment profile was also considered as potential influencing factors on final PET interpretation., Methods: All 18 F-FCH PET/CT performed from January 2018 to September 2019 in patients with prostate cancer and including a pelvic dynamic phase followed by a delayed whole-body acquisition were retrospectively retrieved. PET/CT were analysed by one expert nuclear medicine physician and one resident. The whole-body scan was analysed blinded (first reading) and nonblinded from the results of the dynamic phase., Results: 221 consecutive PET/CT were selected from 201 patients previously treated by radical prostatectomy (n = 31), pelvic radiation therapy (n = 60), or both (n = 94). 24 patients had no previous treatments, and 12 benefited from other focal treatments. In the whole population, dynamic acquisition modified final interpretation of 32/221 scans (14.5%) for residents, 26 (11.8%) for experts and 19 (8.6%) for consensual reading. No influence of previous treatments was found. The availability of a dynamic phase would have been responsible for treatment modification in 5/221 scans (2.3%). Considering only the prostate bed, dynamic acquisition modified the final interpretation in 7/125 (5.6%) studies (consensual reading) from patients with previous prostatic surgery and 4/84 (4.8%) scans from patients without a history of prostatic surgical intervention. No significant influence of dynamic acquisition was found on the final PET interpretation on prostate lodge accordingly to previous prostatic surgery., Conclusion: The dynamic phase changes the interpretation of 18 F-FCH PET in about 9% of cases and the therapeutic strategy in <3% of patients. The influence of the early phase reduces with physician experience. Patient's treatment profile does not appear to have a significant influence on the variability of interpretation, also including the prostate bed., (© 2021 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.)

Background: Glioblastoma relapses in the vast majority of cases within 1 year. Maximum safe resection of the recurrent glioblastoma can be offered in some cases. Re-irradiation has been established for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma, too. In both cases, adjuvant treatment, mostly using temozolomide, can improve PFS and OS after these interventions. However, combining gross tumor resection and adjuvant re-radiotherapy to the resection cavity has not been tested so far.Methods/design: In the multicenter two-armed randomized Phase II GlioCave Study, fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy to the resection cavity, after gross tumor resection of recurrent glioblastoma, will be compared to observation. Depending on the size of the target volume, a total dose of 46 Gy in 2 Gy per fraction or a total dose if 36 Gy in 3 Gy per fraction will be applied. Progression free survival will be the primary endpoint of the study.Discussion: Adjuvant treatment after gross tumor resection of recurrent glioblastoma is currently deemed to be limited to chemotherapy. However, re-irradiation has proven safety and tolerability in the treatment of macroscopic disease. Performing re-irradiation as an adjuvant measure after gross tumor resection has not been tested so far. The GlioCave Study will investigate the efficacy and the safety profile of this approach.Trial Registration: The trial was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT02715297 , registration date February 29th, 2016). The protocol presented hereby refers to the version 1.2 of the protocol (January 11th, 2017). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]