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.