Comparative evaluation of the performance of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT and 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in prostate cancer patients with biochemical recurrence.

Abstract

Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT compared to ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT, which is more commonly used in routine practice, for detecting prostate cancer recurrence in prostate cancer patients with biochemical recurrence.

Materials and methods: Forty-one prostate cancer patients with biochemical recurrence were prospectively included in the study. Additionally, images from 46 patients in our institution's database, who had undergone ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT imaging for biochemical recurrence, were retrospectively re-evaluated to compare the detection rates with those of ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT. SUVmax, total tumor PSMA, PSMA total tumor volume were calculated for local recurrence, lymph node metastasis, and organ metastasis. The diagnostic performances of the two imaging methods were then compared.

Results: The mean age, Gleason scores, ISUP scores, serum PSA levels at diagnosis and at the time of imaging, and PSA doubling times were similar across the ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 and ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 groups. Pathological uptake was observed in the prostatic bed in 16 patients (39.0%), lymph nodes in 22 patients (46.3%), and bones in 11 patients (26.8%) with ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT. ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT showed statistically significant superiority over ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in detecting lymph node metastases (41.6% vs. 25.4%; P=.028). There was no significant difference between the two imaging protocols in the detection rates of local recurrence (P=.067) and bone metastasis (P=.580).

Conclusion: Although the study included a small sample size, the results revealed that ¹⁸F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT had a higher detection rate than ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate carcinoma, particularly for lymph node metastases.