Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Prostate cancer

Can imaging accurately diagnose lymph node involvement?

Nature Reviews Urology volume 12, pages 313–315 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Most metastatic lymph nodes in patients with prostate cancer go undetected by current imaging techniques and limited pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND), as they are small and located in difficult-to-reach areas. As the only current alternative is an extended PLND, the search for more accurate imaging techniques continues.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The lymph-node-staging dilemma in a 39 year old male, 3 years after prostatectomy with a PSA level of 7 ng/ml.

References

  1. Hövels, A. M. et al. The diagnostic accuracy of CT and MRI in the staging of pelvic lymph nodes in patients with prostate cancer: a meta-analysis. Clin. Radiol. 63, 387–395 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thoeny, H. C. et al. Metastases in normal-sized pelvic lymph nodes: detection with diffusion-weighted MR imaging. Radiology 273, 125–135 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Birkhauser, F. D. et al. Combined ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide–enhanced and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging facilitates detection of metastases in normal-sized pelvic lymph nodes of patients with bladder and prostate cancer. Eur. Urol. 64, 953–960 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Fortuin, A. S. et al. Value of PET/CT and MR lymphography in treatment of prostate cancer patients with lymph node metastases. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 84, 712–718 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Heesakkers, R. A. et al. Prostate cancer: detection of lymph node metastases outside the routine surgical area with ferumoxtran-10-enhanced MR imaging. Radiology 251, 408–414 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Van den Bergh, L. et al. Final analysis of a prospective trial on functional imaging for nodal staging in patients with prostate cancer at high risk for lymph node involvement. Urol. Oncol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2014.11.008 (2015).

  7. Meijer, H. J. M. et al. Geographical distribution of lymph node metastases on MR lymphography in prostate cancer patients. Radiot. Oncol. 106, 59–63 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Heesakkers, R. A. et al. MRI with a lymph-node-specific contrast agent as an alternative to CT scan and lymph-node dissection in patients with prostate cancer: a prospective multicohort study. Lancet Oncol. 9, 850–856 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Afshar-Oromieh, A. et al. Comparison of PET imaging with a (68)Ga-labelled PSMA ligand and (18)F-choline-based PET/CT for the diagnosis of recurrent prostate cancer. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 41, 11–20 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yu, C. Y., Desai, B., Ji, L., Groshen, S. & Jadvar, H. Comparative performance of PET tracers in biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer: a critical analysis of literature. Am. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging. 4, 580–601 (2014).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud UMC, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, Netherlands

    Jelle O. Barentsz

  2. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse 10, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Harriet C. Thoeny

Authors
  1. Jelle O. Barentsz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Harriet C. Thoeny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jelle O. Barentsz.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barentsz, J., Thoeny, H. Can imaging accurately diagnose lymph node involvement?. Nat Rev Urol 12, 313–315 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2015.91

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2015.91

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer