¹¹C-acetate PET imaging in prostate cancer

Excerpt

The patient population with a rising PSA following definitive local therapy represents the second largest group of prostate cancer patients [1]. These patients are characterized by a rising marker following definitive local therapy with either surgery or radiation, and by definition have no evidence of disease on standard imaging studies [2]. By some estimates, approximately 50,000 men in the USA enter this clinical state each year [3]. Although some reports suggest that the median amount of time that a patient will spend in this clinical state before developing metastatic disease is 8 years [4], in actuality these patients represent a wide spectrum of clinical risk. Some have rapidly progressive micrometastatic disease and are at high risk for developing metastases; others experience locally persistent disease or an otherwise indolent clinical course. …