Research Article New Acquisition Protocol of 18F-Choline PET/CT in Prostate Cancer Patients: Review of the Literature about Methodology and Proposal of Standardization

Copyright © 2014 Sotirios Chondrogiannis et al.This is an open access article distributed under theCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in anymedium, provided the originalwork is properly cited. Purpose. (1) To evaluate a new acquisition protocol of 18F-choline (FCH) PET/CT for prostate cancer patients (PC), (2) to review acquisition 18F-choline PET/CT methodology, and (3) to propose a standardized acquisition protocol on FCH PET/CT in PC patients.Materials. 100 consecutive PC patients (mean age 70.5 years, mean PSA 21.35 ng/mL) were prospectively evaluated. New protocol consisted of an early scan of the pelvis immediately after the injection of the tracer (1 bed position of 4min) followed by a whole body scan at one 1 hour. Early and 1 hour images were compared for interfering activity and pathologic findings. Results. The overall detection rate of FCH PET/CTwas 64%.The early static images of the pelvis showed absence of radioactive urine in ureters, bladder, or urethra which allowed a clean evaluation of the prostatic fossae. Uptake in the prostatic region was better visualized in the early phase in 26 % (7/30) of cases. Other pelvic pathologic findings (bone and lymph nodes) were visualized in both early and late images.Conclusion. Early 18F-choline images improve visualization of abnormal uptake in prostate fossae. All pathologic pelvic deposits (prostate, lymph nodes, and bone) were visualized in both early and late images. 1