Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography With Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen Ligands for Occult Biochemical Recurrence Detection in Patients With Prostate Cancer: a Single Centre Experience

In France, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men over 50 years of age (nearly 50,000 new cases per year) and is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in men (approximately 9,000 deaths per year).

Among patients who have undergone a curative treatment strategy for localized prostate cancer, between 27% and 53% of them will have a biochemical recurrence within 10 years.

Biochemical recurrence is defined as :

• After total prostatectomy by the persistence of a detectable PSA or the reappearance of a detectable PSA above 0.2 ng/ml after a more or less long period of undetectability.
• After conservative treatment (radiotherapy or brachytherapy) by an increase in PSA above a threshold set at nadir +2 ng/ml Biological recurrence precedes the occurrence of symptomatic metastases by an average of 7-8 years.

Currently, after prostatectomy, when the PSA is < 1 ng/mL, no imaging test is recommended for the assessment of recurrence (grade A recommendation).