OBJECTIVES
To assess the value of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) with either 18F‐choline and/or 11C‐acetate, of residual or recurrent tumour after radical prostatectomy (RP) in patients with a prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level of <1 ng/mL and referred for adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
In all, 22 PET/CT studies were performed, 11 with 18F‐choline (group A) and 11 with 11C‐acetate (group B), in 20 consecutive patients (two undergoing PET/CT scans with both tracers). The median (range) PSA level before PET/CT was 0.33 (0.08–0.76) ng/mL. Endorectal‐coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used in 18 patients. Nineteen patients were eligible for evaluation of biochemical response after salvage radiotherapy.
RESULTS
There was abnormal local tracer uptake in five and six patients in group A and B, respectively. Except for a single positive obturator lymph node, there was no other site of metastasis. In the two patients evaluated with both tracers there was no pathological uptake. Endorectal MRI was locally positive in 15 of 18 patients; 12 of 19 responded with a marked decrease in PSA level (half or more from baseline) 6 months after salvage radiotherapy.
CONCLUSIONS
Although 18F‐choline and 11C‐acetate PET/CT studies succeeded in detecting local residual or recurrent disease in about half the patients with PSA levels of <1 ng/mL after RP, these studies cannot yet be recommended as a standard diagnostic tool for early relapse or suspicion of subclinical minimally persistent disease after surgery. Endorectal MRI might be more helpful, especially in patients with a low likelihood of distant metastases. Nevertheless, further research with 18F‐choline and/or 11C‐acetate PET with optimal spatial resolution might be needed for patients with a high risk of distant relapse after RP even at low PSA values.
Purpose The purpose of the study is to assess the contribution of 18 F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine ( 18 F-FET) positron emission tomography (PET) in the delineation of gross tumor volume (GTV) in patients with high-grade gliomas compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone. Materials and methods The study population consisted of 18 patients with high-grade gliomas. Seven image segmentation techniques were used to delineate 18 F-FET PET GTVs, and the results were compared to the manual MRIderived GTV (GTV MRI ). PET image segmentation techniques included manual delineation of contours (GTV man ), a 2.5 standardized uptake value (SUV) cutoff (GTV 2.5 ), a fixed threshold of 40% and 50% of the maximum signal intensity (GTV 40% and GTV 50% ), signal-to-background ratio (SBR)-based adaptive thresholding (GTV SBR ), gradient find (GTV GF ), and region growing (GTV RG ). Overlap analysis was also conducted to assess geographic mismatch between the GTVs delineated using the different techniques. Results Contours defined using GTV 2.5 failed to provide successful delineation technically in three patients (18% of cases) as SUV max <2.5 and clinically in 14 patients (78% of cases). Overall, the majority of GTVs defined on PET-based techniques were usually smaller than GTV MRI (67% of cases). Yet, PET detected frequently tumors that are not visible on MRI and added substantially tumor extension outside the GTV MRI in six patients (33% of cases). Conclusions The selection of the most appropriate 18 F-FET PET-based segmentation algorithm is crucial, since it impacts both the volume and shape of the resulting GTV. The 2.5 SUV isocontour and GF segmentation techniques performed poorly and should not be used for GTV delineation. With adequate setting, the SBR-based PET technique may add considerably to conventional MRIguided GTV delineation.
Introduction: The NICOLAS study is the first completed single-arm phase II trial in stage III NSCLC evaluating hierarchically first the safety and then the efficacy of adding nivolumab concurrently to standard definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The safety end point was reported earlier; here, we present the efficacy results.Methods: Stage IIIA-B unresectable treatment-naive patients with NSCLC received three cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy (66 Gy, 33 fractions), along with nivolumab (360 mg, 3-weekly).
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