Dr. Jain on the Indications for PET Imaging in Prostate Cancer

Manoj K. Jain, MD, nuclear medicine specialist, radiologist, Mayo Clinic, discusses the indications for PET imaging in prostate cancer.

PET imaging modalities are indicated for patients with biochemical recurrence. However, biochemical recurrence can vary according to the therapy that patients received, explains Jain. If the patient underwent a prostatectomy, any rise in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level > 0.2 ng/mL of blood would be considered abnormal and warrant PET imaging to screen for metastatic disease. If the patient received definitive radiation therapy, any rise of 2.0 ng/mL of blood would be considered abnormal, adds Jain.

Radionuclide imaging, specifically with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted agents, is an emerging imaging modality that can be used to screen for metastatic lesions. Diagnostic procedures such as PET/computed tomography with Gallium 68-labeled PSMA or Fluorine-18-labeled amino acid tracers have been shown to be more sensitive at lower PSA levels than the currently available tracers, concludes Jain.