This study aimed to determine if a specific histologic subtype of prostate cancer is preferentially represented in pelvic lymph node metastases detected using 68GA-PSMA-PET/CT.
A series of 66 men with biochemical recurrent prostate cancer underwent 68GA-PSMA-PET/CT. Twenty patients with disease confined to pelvic lymph nodes underwent salvage extended pelvic lymph node dissection. Researchers assessed lymph node positivity, histologic subtypes of the cancer, and PSA response to the intervention.
The mean PSA level at the time of PSMA scanning for these patients was 2.49. In 16 of the 20 patients, metastatic cribriform pattern prostate cancer was found in the excised nodes, with 11 of these 16 showing 100% cribriform pattern. Four patients did not have this histologic subtype. The PSA response was not related to the presence or amount of cribriform pattern disease.
The study concludes that cribriform pattern adenocarcinoma is the histologic subtype most commonly identified in pelvic lymph nodes on 68GA-PSMA-PET/CT. This imaging technique may be particularly useful for staging primary or recurrent prostate cancer in patients with cribriform pattern disease. Further research is needed to confirm this association.
