Meta-Analysis Assesses Impact of PSMA PET Imaging on Treatment Outcomes for Prostate Cancer Recurrence

Noting a lack of data on the relationship between prostate-specific membrane antigen/positron emission tomography (PSMA PET) imaging and clinical outcomes, researchers shared significant findings from a new meta-analysis, presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference, looking at the impact of the nuclear medicine modality upon the management and treatment outcomes of patients with prostate cancer recurrence.

The meta-analysis involved 34 studies and data from a total of 3,680 men who had definitive primary therapy for prostate cancer and subsequent PSMA PET imaging.

The researchers found positive PSMA PET findings in 68.2 percent of men for recurrent prostate cancer (2,508 of 3,680 patients) and these findings led to a change in management for 56.4 percent of this cohort, according to an RSNA poster presentation of the meta-analysis. Researchers noted that 72.4 percent of those who had changed management had a decreased serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level at a mean follow-up of 8.1 months and 23.3 percent of patients achieved a complete biochemical response at a median 11-month follow-up. At a 20-month median follow-up, researchers pointed to a 60.2 pooled percentage rate of prostate cancer-free survival.

(Editor’s note: For related articles on prostate cancer imaging, see “Study Says Targeted Biopsy with MRI Reduces Overdiagnosis of Prostate Cancer by Half” and “Study Assesses PET Agent for Detecting Pelvic Lymph Node Metastases in Patients with Prostate Cancer.”)

Alex Pozdnyakov, M.D., the lead author of the study, discussed the findings of the study during a recent interview at the RSNA conference.

“In terms of clinical results, we found that approximately 25 percent oof patients had a complete response and around 60 percent of patients had biochemical-recurrence free survival at the median of 20 months, which was varied across different studies but still demonstrates a durable response to metastasis-directed treatment based on the findings from PSMA PET (imaging),” noted Dr. Pozdnyakov, who is affiliated with the Department of Radiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

For more insights from Dr. Pozdnyakov, watch the video below.