Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 18, 2025
A New Technique for Treating Low-risk Prostate Cancer—Super Active Surveillance
Published on: November 7, 2025
Pattern of failure in prostate cancer previously treated with radical prostatectomy and post-operative radiotherapy:
Lindsay S Rowe1,2, Stephanie Harmon3, Adam Horn4
1Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, 10 Center Drive Magnuson Clinical Center, Room B2-3500, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. Lindsay.rowe@albertahealthservices.ca.
Background:
Prostate Membrane Specific Antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) and multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) have shown high accuracy in identifying recurrent lesions after definitive treatment in prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, we aimed to outline patterns of failure in a group of post-prostatectomy patients who received adjuvant or salvage radiation therapy (PORT) and subsequently experienced biochemical recurrence, using 18F-PSMA PET/CT and mpMRI.
Methods:
PCa patients with biochemical failure post-prostatectomy, and no evident site of recurrence on conventional imaging, were enrolled on two prospective trials of first and second generation 18F-PSMA PET agents (18F-DCFBC and 18F-DCFPyL) in combination with MRI between October 2014 and December 2018. The primary aim of our study is to characterize these lesions with respect to their location relative to previous PORT field and received dose.
Results:
A total of 34 participants underwent 18F-PSMA PET imaging for biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy and PORT, with 32/34 found to have 18F-PSMA avid lesions. On 18F-PSMA, 17/32 patients (53.1%) had metastatic disease, 8/32 (25.0%) patients had locoregional recurrences, and 7/32 (21.9%) had local failure in the prostate fossa. On further exploration, we noted 6/7 (86%) of prostate fossa recurrences were in-field and were encompassed by 100% isodose lines, receiving 64.8-72 Gy. One patient had marginal failure encompassed by the 49 Gy isodose.
Conclusions:
18F-PSMA PET imaging demonstrates promise in identifying occult PCa recurrence after PORT. Although distant recurrence was the predominant pattern of failure, in-field recurrence was noted in approximately 1/5th of patients. This should be considered in tailoring radiotherapy practice after prostatectomy. Trial registration www.clinicaltrials.gov , NCT02190279 and NCT03181867. Registered July 12, 2014, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02190279 and June 8 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03181867 .
