A new study reveals that positron emission tomography (PET)/computer tomography (CT) scans with the imaging agent choline plays an emerging and important role to spot prostate cancer earlier than conventional imaging technologies for some patients who have already had their prostates removed.
This new study was published in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men, and the incidence has dramatically increased in the last few years.
The retrospective study included 190 men (with a mean age of 68) who had previously treated with radical prostatectomy, with or without pelvic lymph node dissection, and with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.
The study researchers found that whole body PET/CT imaging with choline is much better when compared to conventional imaging technologies to spot prostate cancer in patients with biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy.