Various imaging modalities have been applied to evaluate the disease burden in prostate cancer patients. The 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan has recently received particular attention due to its high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In this study, the value of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan (and SUVmax) in assessing metastatic prostate cancer lesions and other tumor characteristics was investigated. Some significant findings were obtained in the present study. First, the relationship between the total PSA and metastatic disease burden was examined; higher PSA levels were significantly associated with a higher incidence of abdominal and pelvic lymph node metastasis. Secondly, although the assessment of total PSA could predict metastatic involvement of lymph nodes in the abdomen and pelvis, it was not well correlated with the number of involved lymph nodes (single or multiple). Thirdly, there was no significant correlation between the total serum PSA and the Gleason score (pathological grade) of prostate cancer, assuming that the total PSA cannot accurately represent the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Fourthly, the value of the SUVmax index was not correlated with the Gleason score, assuming that the SUVmax value cannot provide an accurate representation of prostate cancer aggressiveness.
Based on the present results, there was no significant relationship between the SUVmax index and the total PSA level. On the other hand, there was a significant relationship between the Gleason score and increased 68Ga-PSMA uptake in prostate cancer, which was a predictable finding. Therefore, 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT is not a strong predictor of tumor invasiveness in prostate cancer. One reason for this finding may be the physical characteristics of 68Ga-PSMA radiotracer and differences in the emitted positron energy and range compared to the FDG radiotracer. Overall, the semi-quantitative parameters of 68Ga-PSMA PET are less reliable than those of 18F-FDG PET scan.
Additionally, there are other studies in the literature on the value of
68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan in the evaluation of prostate cancer characteristics which reported inconsistent results. In a study by Kallur et al. (
12), contrary to the present findings,
68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan could detect extra-prostate metastatic lesions with 95% sensitivity at a predictive value of 98%. Besides, they predicted tumor progression in 100% of progressed cases; however, they reported a relatively low sensitivity for predicting response to treatment. The findings of
68Ga-PSMA PET/CT scan had no significant correlation with the PSA level. In another study by Demirci et al. (
13), in contrast to the current study, there was a strong correlation between the SUV
max and tumor grade in patients, and the value of SUV
max was higher in high-grade cases. Moreover, in a study by Uprimny et al. (
14), the correlation between the Gleason score and SUV
max was significant, and tumors with a Gleason score of 6 - 7 showed lower
68Ga-PSMA uptake compared to patients with a Gleason score > 7. Besides, in a study by Dadgar et al. (
15), the progression of lesions was completely associated with an increase in the PSA level. In their study, the PET/CT technique could identify the majority of metastatic lesions in patients. Therefore, the lack of correlation between the SUV
max index and the pathological index (Gleason score) and the total PSA level reported in this study requires further investigations.
The following limitations can be mentioned in this study. First, the sample size was limited, and therefore, the study did not have high power. Second, interpretation of PET/CT findings requires a high level of experience, and the diagnostician’s experience may be a confounding factor in the final assessment of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT images