Positron-emission tomography in imaging and staging prostate cancer

With increasing application of positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging, familiarity with the applications of PET in genitourinary oncology, especially prostate-cancer (PCa) imaging, becomes important. PET studies provide functional information using radiolabeled tracers, with fluoro-dexoxy-glucose (FDG) being the most commonly used. Nevertheless FDG has limitations for evaluation of PCa patients and therefore alternative tracers are being investigated. To date, the best results have been obtained with 11C-choline and 11C-acetate PET, which seem to demonstrate similar values in this field. We review the current role of PET in PCa patients based on data published in the literature as well as our own experience. Most studies of PET imaging of PCa address three goals: a) detecting primary PCa; b) staging PCa; and c) assessing PCa recurrence. From available results, routine clinical use of 11C-choline PET cannot be recommended for detecting and staging primary PCa. At present, the only clinical indication for imaging PCa with 11C-choline-PET is evaluation of suspected recurrence after treatment.