PET tracer detects early progression of prostate cancer in patients receiving bipolar androgen therapy: Study

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-09-10T08:00:15+05:30 | Updated On 10 Sept 2021 8:00 AM IST

Maryland: A recent study has found that PET imaging can identify whether or not patients respond to an investigational therapy for prostate cancer.

According to the study, published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, new radiotracer-avid lesions on 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT can indicate early progression in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) undergoing bipolar androgen therapy (BAT).

Androgen (testosterone) deprivation therapy is the standard treatment approach for men with prostate cancer, but often the treatment stops working because prostate cancer cells adapt to the lower levels. Paradoxically, however, research has also shown that high concentrations of androgens are able to suppress tumor growth.

Bipolar androgen therapy is an emerging treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. 18F-DCFPyL is a small-molecule PET radiotracer targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). Mark C. Markowski, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues analyzed the utility of 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT in determining clinical response to BAT.

The study included six men with mCRPC receiving BAT who were imaged with 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT at baseline and after 3 mo of treatment. Progression by PSMA-targeted PET/CT was defined as the appearance of any new 18F-DCFPyL–avid lesion.

Also Read:Residual benign prostate glandular tissue not tied to detectable PSA after radical prostatectomy: Study

The study yielded the following findings:

50% of patients had progression on ¹⁸F-DCFPyL PET/CT. All 3 had stable disease or better on contemporaneous conventional imaging.
Radiographic progression on CT or bone scanning was observed within 3 months of progression on ¹⁸F-DCFPyL PET/CT.
For the 3 patients who did not have progression on ¹⁸F-DCFPyL PET/CT, radiographic progression was not observed for at least 6 months.

The researchers concluded, "new radiotracer-avid lesions on 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT in men with mCRPC undergoing BAT can indicate early progression."

Also Read: Combination of MRI and new blood test may improve prostate cancer detection: Lancet

Reference:

The study titled, "Detection of Early Progression with 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT in Men with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Receiving Bipolar Androgen Therapy," is published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

DOI: https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/9/1270

Journal of Nuclear Medicinebipolar androgen therapyprostate cancerPET

Source : The Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751