Role of11 C-choline PET/CT in the re-staging of prostate cancer patients with biochemical relapse and negative results at bone scintigraphy

Abstract Aim to evaluate the utility of11 C-choline PET/CT in prostate cancer (PC) patients who have demonstrated a biochemical recurrence and a negative bone scintigraphy (BS). Materials and methods 123 consecutive PC patients (mean age 67.6 years; range 54–83) with a biochemical relapse (mean PSA value 3.3 ng/mL; range 0.2–25.5) after radical prostatectomy (RP) were included in our retrospective study. Patients underwent a BS that resulted negative and a11 C-choline PET/CT within 4 months from BS (range: 1 day to 4 months; mean: 2.5 months). Validation of results was established by: (1) a positive biopsy, (2) a positive subsequent BS, CT or MR and (3) a normalization of11 C-choline uptake after systemic therapy or a progression of the disease. Results11 C-choline PET/CT was positive in 42/123 patients (34.1%).11 C-choline PET/CT detected lesions in: bone (10 patients), lymph-nodes (20 patients), bone and lymph nodes (7 patients), bone and lung (1 patient), lymph-nodes and lung (1 patient), local relapse (3 patients). Overall,11 C-choline PET/CT showed a total of 30 unknown bone lesions in 18/123 (14.6%) patients. Conclusion11 C-choline PET/CT showed a better sensitivity than BS in patients with biochemical relapse after RP:11 C-choline PET/CT detected unknown bone lesions in 18/123 (14.6%) patients.