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Publications

Analysis of intraprostatic therapeutic effects in prostate cancer patients using [(11)C]-choline pet/ct after external-beam radiation therapy.

By:
Contributors: Melinda Wuest, PhD, Matthew Parliament, MD, FRCPC, Nawaid Usmani, MD, FRCPC
Curr Oncol. 2013 Apr;20(2):104-10. doi: 10.3747/co.20.1217.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

The objective of the present study was to analyze, with relatively high sensitivity and specificity, uptake properties of [(11)C]-choline in prostate cancer patients by means of positron-emission tomography (pet)/computed tomography (ct) imaging using objectively defined pet parameters to test for statistically significant changes before, during, and after external-beam radiation therapy (ebrt) and to identify the time points at which the changes occur.

METHODS:

The study enrolled 11 patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer treated with ebrt, who were followed for up to 12 months after ebrt. The [(11)C]-choline pet scans were performed before treatment (baseline); at weeks 4 and 8 of ebrt; and at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after ebrt.

RESULTS:

Analysis of [(11)C]-choline uptake in prostate tissue before treatment resulted in a maximum standardized uptake value (suvmax) of 4.0 ± 0.4 (n = 11) at 40 minutes after injection. During week 8 of ebrt, the suvmax declined to 2.9 ± 0.1 (n = 10, p < 0.05). At 2 and 12 months after ebrt, suvmax values were 2.3 ± 0.3 (n = 10, p < 0.01) and 2.2 ± 0.2 (n = 11, p < 0.001) respectively, indicating that, after ebrt, maximum radiotracer uptake in the prostate was significantly reduced. Similar effects were observed when analyzing the tumour:muscle ratio (tmr). The tmr declined from 7.4 ± 0.6 (n = 11) before ebrt to 6.1 ± 0.4 (n = 11, nonsignificant) during week 8 of ebrt, to 5.6 ± 0.03 (n = 11, p < 0.05) at 2 months after ebrt, and to 4.4 ± 0.4 (n = 11, p < 0.001) at 12 months after ebrt.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our study demonstrated that intraprostatic [(11)C]-choline uptake in the 11 analyzed prostate cancer patients significantly declined during and after ebrt. The pet parameters SUVmax and tmr also declined significantly. These effects can be detected during radiation therapy and up to 1 year after therapy. The prognostic value of these early and statistically significant changes in intraprostatic [(11)C]-choline pet avidity during and after ebrt are not yet established. Future studies are indicated to correlate changes in [(11)C]-choline uptake parameters with long-term biochemical recurrence to further evaluate [(11)C]-choline pet changes as a possible, but currently unproven, biomarker of response.

 PubMed

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Russ Greiner’s Team “PC LEARN”, tied for 1st in the Prostate Cancer DREAM Challenge

Competing with 50 teams from around the world in the Prostate Cancer DREAM Challenge, University of Alberta’s PC LEARN team tied for 1st in one of the 3 sub-challenges
to predict the survival and toxicity of Docetaxel treatment in patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer!

“The DREAM Challenge was an exciting opportunity for us to apply machine learning to real medical data and possibly to contribute to medical research.” said lead PI and APCaRI member Russ Greiner.

The primary benefit of this Challenge will be to establish new quantitative benchmarks for prognostic modeling in mCRPC, with a potential impact for clinical decision making and ultimately understanding the mechanism of disease progression. https://www.synapse.org/#!Synapse:syn2813558/wiki/70844

- Russ Greiner