title: Investigations with FDG-PET scanning in prostate cancer show limited value for clinical practice.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) imaging in the management of prostate cancer. Twenty-two patients were studied during different disease phases of prostate cancer, for staging or restaging to clarify specific clinical questions. FDG-PET was performed encompassing the thorax, abdomen and pelvis using the Penn PET 300H scanner. Scanning was begun 60 min after 18F fluorodeoxyglucose marker. Patients were catheterized and administered diuretics to minimize urinary activity. Information obtained with FDG-PET was concordant with findings from other investigations in 7/22 (32%) patients, discordant in 15/22 (68%) patients and equivalent in one patient (4%). PET indicated progressive disease in five patients with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) < 4 ng/L. The impact on management of the patients was high in 46% of cases, low in 41% and for 14% there was no impact on management. The accuracy of FDG-PET was 72% (95% CI 50-89) as confirmed by invasive diagnostics/follow-up. FDG-PET can provide useful information and improve the clinician's decision on further management procedures in selected patients with low PSA and bone or lymph node changes. A negative PET scan in prostate cancer should be interpreted with caution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Turku University Hospital, Finland. eevsal@utu.fi
authors.forename: Eeva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salminen
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Binns
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frydenberg
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hicks
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen