Tracing prostate cancer - the evolution of PET-CT applications

The study aimed to overview radiopharmaceuticals used for the nuclear medicine (NM) imaging of prostate cancer (Pca) since the first mentions in the literature up to recent reports, with the special focus on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) radiotracers.

We found over 3500 articles discussing the role of PET-CT in Pca patients' management published within 1990-2023. We summarized the past and present interests of the Authors when the Pca diagnostic imaging and the use of radiotracers in Pca diagnosis are considered. Eventually, we have compared the radiotracers' introduction in the literature with the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval timeline.

The most mentions by the Authors were made of the following PET-CT study compounds: 2-[¹⁸F]fluoroethyl-choline ([¹⁸F]FECh), gallium-⁶⁸-labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen using peptide-11, ([⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA-11), carbon-¹¹-labelled acetic acid ([¹¹C]acetate), and the anti-1-amino-3-[¹⁸F]-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (anti-3-[¹⁸F]FACBC, Axumin®), as well as the non-tumour-specific 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG). The most recent studies analysis showed an increasing interest of the Authors not only in a relatively new Pca-specific [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA-11, but also in a widely used non-specific [¹⁸F]FDG.

The literature analysis results lead to the conclusion that Pca remains a constant focus of the NM drug development with particularly high interest in PET-CT-dedicated radiotracers.