68Ga-PSMA PET/CT Detects the Location and Extent of Primary Prostate Cancer

Methods: Twenty-one patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer underwent Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC (Ga-PSMA) PET/CT at a median of 4 d (range, 0-47 d) before radical prostatectomy. Based on a 6-segment model, the Gleason score and proportion of tumor tissue within each segment (segmental tumor burden, or STB) as determined by histopathology (STB) were correlated with SUV and STB as determined by different SUV cutoffs for Ga-PSMA PET (STB). Furthermore, the involvement of seminal vesicles and other extracapsular extension were assessed by histopathology and PET/CT.

Results: Histopathology-positive segments (n = 100 of 126; 79%) demonstrated a significantly higher mean ± SD SUV (11.8 ± 7.6) than histopathology-negative segments (4.9 ± 2.9; P < 0.001). Receiver-operating-characteristic analysis revealed an optimal SUV cutoff of 6.5 for discrimination of histopathology-positive segments from histopathology-negative segments (area under the curve, 0.84; P < 0.001), which gave 67% sensitivity, 92% specificity, a 97% positive predictive value, a 42% negative predictive value, and 72% accuracy. STB as determined by (2 × blood SUV) + (2 × SD) correlated best with STB (Pearson ρ = 0.68; P < 0.001; mean difference ± SD, 19% ± 15%). PET/CT correctly detected invasion of seminal vesicles (n = 11 of 21 patients; 52%) with 86% accuracy and tumor spread through the capsule (n = 12; 57%) with 71% accuracy.

Conclusion: Ga-PSMA PET/CT accurately detected the location and extent of primary prostate cancer. Our preliminary findings warrant further investigation of Ga-PSMA PET/CT in conjunction with needle biopsy.