Newest PSMA PET/CT Scan Now Locally Available for Prostate Cancer Treatment
6/3/2022
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (June, 2022) – Commonwealth Health Wilkes-Barre General Hospital is the first institution in our area to offer the new FDA approved and NCCN-indicated, prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) imaging agent to evaluate patients with prostate cancer. PSMA CT-PET scan is a new powerful imaging tool that will allow physicians to locate suspected metastatic prostate cancer at an earlier stage than was previously available.
“Clinicians who diagnose and treat prostate cancer employ many tools and follow guidelines developed by a number of organizations using evidence-based and peer-reviewed methods,” said Michael Rittenberg, M.D., an urologist at Commonwealth Health Physician Network.
Until now, conventional imaging (CT, MRI, and bone scans) has been unable to identify the location and extent of disease in men with newly diagnosed and recurrent disease. “The new PSMA CT-PET scan provides accurate and early detection of a patient’s disease and helps us to target our treatments more effectively,” said Rittenberg.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) provides guidelines for staging of newly-diagnosed prostate cancer. The new PSMA CT-PET scan is now indicated for staging of newly diagnosed high risk disease and for earlier detection of metastases in patients who may have failed primary treatment with surgery or radiation therapy.
The PSMA imaging agent uses a type of tracer called Flourine-18 or 18F. The tracer is injected an hour before scanning and binds to PSMA, a protein on the surface of prostate cancer cells. Cancerous cells are identified as bright spots on the PET scan and their anatomic location is revealed on the CT scan conducted at the same time. This study is only for men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It should be used if you have newly diagnosed high risk disease to help determine which treatment is right for you or if you have a rising PSA after primary treatment to determine if you have a recurrence of your disease.
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