A new PET/CT imaging technique may be useful for guiding prostate biopsies and preoperative planning, according to research presented at this week's Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) conference in San Diego.
A team from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich evaluated gallium-68 (Ga-68) PSMA, a PET imaging agent that targets the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) protein. In testing to identify prostate tumor boundaries before patients underwent surgery, the researchers found 67% of prostate tissue that tested positive for cancer via histological evaluation was positively identified by PET/CT using Ga-68 PSMA.
"The results of our study indicate that Ga-68 PSMA PET/CT accurately identifies affected regions of the prostate and might present a promising tool for noninvasive tumor characterization and biopsy guidance," lead author Dr. Wolfgang Fendler said in a statement released by the SNMMI.
