PSMA PET imaging for prostate cancer

Precisely locating prostate cancer so that it can be treated is extremely challenging

This is because prostate cancer tumors can be found not only in the prostate but also throughout the pelvis and the body in cases where the tumors have migrated.

Effectively pinpointing and eliminating these tumors is important because prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer death in men.

In 2020 alone, an estimated 191,000 men were diagnosed, with more than 33,000 deaths.

For this reason, UCLA Health and UC San Francisco validated for use in the United States a diagnostic innovation known as the prostate-specific membrane antigen or PSMA PET scan. This scan is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and it enables more precise detection of prostate cancer for treatment planning and targeted care.

PSMA PET is a better standard of care because it is more accurate

UCLA Health researchers, along with colleagues at UC San Francisco, studied PSMA PET for several years. These studies led to the FDA approval of this imaging technique’s use in the United States.

PSMA PET provides better care for men who are initially diagnosed with prostate cancer or for men who were previously treated but have experienced a recurrence of the cancer. In both cases, PSMA PET is better able to find the extent of this cancer in the body.

PSMA PET enables more precise detection of prostate cancer.

PSMA PET works using a radioactive tracer, called 68Ga-PSMA-11, which is manufactured on site at UCLA Health. Nuclear medicine physicians inject this tracer which attaches itself to proteins known as prostate-specific membrane antigens (PSMA). Because prostate cancer tumors overexpress these proteins on their surface, physicians are able to pinpoint their location with the tracer.

The current standard of care in prostate cancer imaging is a technique called fluciclovine PET, which involves physicians injecting patients with a synthetic radioactive amino acid.

In their research comparing PSMA and fluciclovine PET, the UCLA and UCSF research teams found that imaging with PSMA PET was able to detect significantly more prostate lesions than fluciclovine PET in men who had undergone a radical prostatectomy but had experienced a recurrence of their cancer.