C-11 choline PET/CT offers benefits for Prostate Cancer patients

Three studies highlight the role that C-11 choline positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) scans can play in cancer staging and as a potential therapeutic tool for patients with recurrent Prostate Cancer. The first of the three, released during a meeting of the American Urological Association, reveals that C-11 choline PET/CT scans can play a role as a staging tool instead of multiple x-rays which is the conventional approach. The other studies suggest the use of PET scans to evaluate patients with recurrent Prostate Cancer could be beneficial - important since distinguishing localised disease from systemic recurrence is important for optimising treatment. Finally, compared to conventional technologies, C-11-choline PET/CT seems to enhance the rate of detection of Prostate Cancer lesions by approximately 30%. see "Prospective Evaluation of 11C-Choline Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography and Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Nodal Staging of Prostate Cancer with a High Risk of Lymph Node Metastases" Tom Budiharto, Steven Joniau, Evelyne Lerut, Laura Van den Bergh, Felix Mottaghy, Christophe M. Deroose, Raymond Oyen, Filip Ameye, Kris Bogaerts, Karin Haustermans, Hendrik Van Poppel EUROPEAN UROLOGY 60 (2011) 125 � 130 doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2011.01.015