Nodal staging is important in prostate cancer treatment.
While surgical lymph node dissection is the classic method of determining whether lymph nodes harbor malignancy, this is a very invasive technique. Current noninvasive approaches to identifying malignant lymph nodes are limited. Conventional imaging methods rely on size and morphology of lymph nodes and have notoriously low sensitivity for detecting malignant nodes. New imaging techniques such as targeted positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and magnetic resonance lymphography (MRL) with iron oxide particles are promising for nodal staging of prostate cancer. In this review, the strengths and limitations of imaging techniques for lymph node staging of prostate cancer are discussed.
Written by:
Sankineni S, Brown AM, Fascelli M, Law YM, Pinto PA, Choyke PL, Turkbey B. Are you the author?
Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, Room B3B85, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Reference: Curr Urol Rep. 2015 May;16(5):505.
doi: 10.1007/s11934-015-0505-y
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25773350