Molecular Imaging Articles

The prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a cell surface protein, which is overexpressed in nearly all cases of prostate cancer (PCa). PET imaging with (68)Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC has recently found widespread application in the diagnosis of recurrent PCa.

(68)Ga prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET)/computer tomography (CT) is a new method to detect early nodal metastases in patients with biochemical relapse of prostate cancer (PCa).

We assessed the value of fusion (18)F-fluoromethylcholine ((18)F-choline) Positron Emission To-mography / Magnetic Resonance Imaging (PET/MRI) for image-guided (targeted) prostate biop-sies to detect significant prostate cancer (Gleason ≥ 3+4) compared to standard (systematic 12-core) biopsies.

(18)F-FDG-PET/CT has become the reference standard in oncologic imaging against which the performance of other imaging modalities is measured. The promise of PET/MRI includes multi-parametric imaging to further improve diagnosis and phenotyping of cancer.

68Ga ligands targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) are rapidly emerging as a significant step forward in the management of prostate cancer. PSMA is a type II transmembrane protein with high expression in prostate carcinoma cells.

Since overexpression of the gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) has been reported on various cancer types, e.g. prostate cancer and breast cancer, targeting this receptor with radioligands might have significant impact on staging and treatment of GRPR-expressing tumors.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is over-expressed in the epithelium of prostate cancer and in the neovasculature of many non-prostate solid tumors. PSMA has been increasingly used as a target for cancer imaging and therapy.

Small organic ligands, selective for tumor-associated antigens, are increasingly being considered as alternatives to monoclonal antibodies for the targeted delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic payloads such as radionuclides and drugs into neoplastic masses.

The 2016 Coffey-Holden Prostate Cancer Academy (CHPCA) Meeting, "Beyond Seed and Soil: Understanding and Targeting Metastatic Prostate Cancer," was held from June 23 to June 26, 2016, in Coronado, California.

Introduction: Iodine-123-meta-iodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-MIBG) imaging is currently a mainstay in the evaluation of many neuroendocrine tumors, especially neuroblastoma. (123)I-MIBG imaging has several limitations that can be overcome by the use of a PET agent.

Rationale: Lymphatic tracers can help visualize the lymphatic drainage patterns and sentinel nodes of individual prostate cancer patients. To determine the role of nuclear medicine, in particular the positional guidance of a SPECT/CT-based 3D imaging roadmap, in this process we studied to which extend fluorescence-guidance underestimated the number of target lesions.

Rationale: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men worldwide. In general, PCa responds poorly to chemotherapy. Therefore, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have been developed to specifically deliver highly cytotoxic drugs to the tumor.

At the heart of selecting an optimal management strategy for men with prostate cancer is accurately determining a given patient's clinical stage and extent of disease. Molecular imaging with PET using properly selected radiotracers offers the opportunity for improved contrast resolution over conventional imaging and thus increased sensativity for detecting sites of disease.

Objectives: Ga-68 labelled urea-based inhibitors of the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), such as (68)Ga-HBED-PSMA-11, are promising small molecules for targeting prostate cancer. A new radiopharmaceutical (68)Ga-THP-PSMA has a simplified design for one-step kit-based radiolabelling.

Cell surface biomarkers such as prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and hepsin have received considerable attention as targets for imaging prostate cancer (PCa) due to their high cell surface expression in such tumors and easy access for imaging probes.

Recently, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted PET-imaging has emerged as new method of staging and restaging of prostate cancer. Most published studies have investigated the diagnostic potential of 68Ga-labeled PSMA-agents which are excreted renally.

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the detection rate of Glu-NH-CO-NH-Lys-(Ahx)-[(68)Ga(HBED-CC)] ((68)Ga-PSMA ligand) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with biochemical recurrent prostate cancer (PC) defined by Phoenix criteria after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or brachytherapy as primary treatment.

Bombesin (BBN), an analog of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), specifically binds to GRP receptors, which are overexpressed in human prostate cancer (PC). Here, we synthesized a BBN-modified gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanoprobe containing fluorescein (Gd2O3-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein [FI]-polyethylene glycol [PEG]-BBN) for targeted magnetic resonance (MR)/optical dual-modality imaging of PC.

The EANM 2015 Annual Congress, held from October 10th to 14th in Hamburg, Germany, was outstanding in many respects. With 5550 participants, this was by far the largest European congress concerning nuclear medicine.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a type II transmembrane glycoprotein that is highly overexpressed on prostate cancer epithelial cells and for which there is a growing body of literature examining the role of small molecule and antibody radiotracers targeted against this protein for prostate cancer detection and therapy.

To evaluate the effect of androgen receptor (AR) inhibition on Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) uptake imaged using (68)Ga-PSMA-11 Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in a mouse xenograft model and in a patient with castration sensitive prostate cancer.

The purpose was to evaluate the role of the synthetic amino acid positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer fluciclovine ((18)F) in modifying the clinical and planning target volume (CTV and PTV) definition in post-prostatectomy patients undergoing salvage radiotherapy and to evaluate the resulting dosimetric consequences to surrounding organs at risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this prospective study was to estimate the effect of (68)Ga-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-11 PET on intended management of patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an attractive target for both diagnosis and therapy because of its high expression in the vast majority of prostate cancers. Development of small molecules for targeting PSMA is important for molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy of prostate cancer.

We have previously reported that PET with 18F-fluoride (NaF-PET) for assessment of osseous metastatic disease led to changes in intended management in a substantial fraction of patients with prostate or other types of cancer participating in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR).

Introduction: The introduction of 18F-labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted positron emission tomography/computed-tomography (PET/CT) tracers, firstly 18F-DCFPyL and more recently 18F-PSMA-1007, have demonstrated promising results for the diagnostic workup of prostate cancer (PCa).

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is highly expressed in prostate cancer and within the neovasculature of other solid tumors. The non-prostatic expression of PSMA has been reported exclusively within the neovasculature endothelial cells of non-prostate cancers, however, there are few reports on PSMA expression on epithelial cells.

Molecular imaging allows clinicians to visualize the progression of tumours and obtain relevant information for patient diagnosis and treatment.

Determining the metastatic viability of suspicious retroperitoneal nodes in testicular cancer with conventional imaging is challenging. The aim of this report is to review recent evidence in the utilization of novel imaging modalities to assess viable testicular cancer nodal metastases.

There is a need for a precise and reliable imaging to improve the management of prostate cancer. In recent years the PET/CT with choline has changed the handling of prostate cancer in Europe, and it is commonly used for initial stratification or for the diagnosis of a biochemical recurrence, although it does not lack limitations.

To investigate changes in the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in men on active surveillance for prostate cancer taking dutasteride 0.5 mg or placebo.

We analysed 37 men, randomised to 6 months of daily dutasteride (n = 18) or placebo (n = 19), undergoing 3T multi-parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (mpMRI) scans at baseline and 6 months.

Optical and cross-sectional imaging plays critical roles in bladder cancer diagnostics. White light cystoscopy remains the cornerstone for the management of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. In the last decade, significant technological improvements have been introduced for optical imaging to address the known shortcomings of white light cystoscopy.

While there has been extensive development of anti-cancer drugs for treatment of prostate cancer, the therapeutic efficacy of such drugs remains inadequate in many cases. Here, we performed in vitro biopanning of the PC3 human prostate carcinoma cell line to select prostate cancer-specific peptides by phage display.

Overexpression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptors (uPAR) represents an important biomarker for aggressiveness in most common malignant diseases, including prostate cancer (PC). Accordingly, uPAR expression either assessed directly in malignant PC tissue or assessed directly in plasma (intact/cleaved forms)-provides independent additional clinical information to that contributed by PSA, Gleason score, and other relevant pathological and clinical parameters.

Initial studies in patients have demonstrated the suitability of (111)In-PSMA-I&T ((111)In-DOTAGA-(3-iodo-y)-f-k-Sub(KuE)) for radioguided surgery (RGS) of small metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) soft tissue lesions.

Pembrolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) found on T and pro-B cells. Pembrolizumab prevents PD-1 ligation by both PD-L1 and PD-L2, preventing the immune dysregulation that otherwise occurs when T-cells encounter cells expressing these ligands.

In prostate cancer with biochemical failure after therapy, current imaging techniques have a low detection rate at the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at which targeted salvage therapy is effective.

We prospectively evaluated the combined (18)F-NaF/(18)F-FDG PET/CT in patients with breast and prostate cancers, and compared the results to (99m)Tc MDP bone scintigraphy (BS) and whole-body MRI (WBMRI).

This prospective pilot study evaluated the ability of sodium fluoride (Na(18)F) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (NaF-PET/CT) to detect and monitor bone metastases over time and its correlation with clinical outcomes and survival in advanced prostate cancer.

A sensitive, non-invasive method to detect localized prostate cancer, particularly for early detection and repetitive study in patients undergoing active surveillance, remains an unmet need. Here we propose a molecular photoacoustic (PA) imaging approach by targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is over-expressed in the vast majority of prostate cancers.

To determine the diagnostic capabilities of combined prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PSMA PET/CT) and sentinel node (SN) biopsy in PSMA PET/CT negative patients for the primary lymph node (LN) staging in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

Several studies outlined the sensitivity of (68)Ga-labeled PET tracers against the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) for localization of relapsed prostate cancer in patients with renewed increase in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA), commonly referred to as biochemical recurrence.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an excellent target for radionuclide therapy of metastasized castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Besides high affinity and long tumor retention, the DOTA-conjugated ligand PSMA-617 has low kidney uptake making it an excellent choice for therapeutic application.

Bladder cancer, the most common tumour of the urinary tract, ranks fifth among all tumour entities. While local treatment or intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) provides a treatment option for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer of low grade, surgery or radio(chemo)therapy (RT) are frequently applied in high grade tumours.

This review summarizes novel imaging in the management of prostate cancer including multiparametric MRI, PET-CT scans with different radiotracers including 11C-acetate, 11C-choline, 18F-choline, 18F sodium fluoride, prostate-specific membrane antigen, and anti-1-amino-3-[18F] fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (fluciclovine).

Overexpression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptors (uPAR) represents an established biomarker for aggressiveness in most common malignant diseases, including breast (BC), prostate (PC) and urinary bladder cancer (UBC) and is therefore an important target for new cancer therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane protein highly expressed on prostate cancer cells and a potential imaging target for diagnosis. [(18)F]DCFPyL has been recently developed as an effective probe with high diagnostic accuracy for prostate cancer imaging.

Aggressive variant prostate cancers (AVPC) are a clinically defined group of tumors of heterogeneous morphologies, characterized by poor patient survival and for which limited diagnostic and treatment options are currently available.

This manuscript utilised in vivo multispectral imaging to demonstrate the efficacy of two different nanomedicine formulations for targeting prostate cancer.

Pegylated hyperbranched polymers were labelled with fluorescent markers and targeting ligands against two different prostate cancer markers; prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and the protein kinase, EphrinA2 receptor (EphA2).

While Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) with (68)Ga-PSMA-11 in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) is routinely performed at 1h post injection (p.i.), later scans may be beneficial since most lesions present with higher uptake and contrast.