Background Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligand therapy (RLT) with 177Lu-labeled PSMA ligands has achieved remarkable results in advanced disease stages of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, not all patients benefit from this therapy. Different treatment responses could be explained by tumor heterogeneity triggered by progression and the number of prior treatments. PSMA-negative lesions can be missed on PSMA ligand PET/CT, which subsequently results in an underestimation of tumor burden. Conversely, high FDG uptake may also be an indicator of tumor aggressiveness and thus a poor prognostic marker for response to RLT and overall survival (OS). The aim of this analysis was to investigate the prognostic value of combined PSMA ligand PET/CT and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT for outcome prediction in patients undergoing RLT. Materials and methods This bicentric analysis included 54 patients with mCRPC who underwent both FDG and PSMA ligand PET/CT imaging before RLT. In all patients, the pattern of PSMA ligand and FDG uptake was visually assessed. Patients with at least one FDG-positive, but PSMA-negative (FDG+/PSMA−) lesions were compared to patients without any FDG+/PSMA− lesions. A log-rank analysis was used to assess the difference in OS between subgroups. Results Median OS was 11 ± 1.8 months (95% CI 7.4–14.6). A significantly lower OS (p < 0.001) was found in patients with at least one FDG+/PSMA− lesion at baseline PET/CTs (n = 18) with a median OS of 6.0 ± 0.5 months (95% CI: 5.0–7.0 months). In comparison, patients without any FDG+/PSMA− lesions (n = 36) had a median OS of 16.0 ± 2.5 months (95% CI: 11.2–20.8 months). Conclusion FDG+/PSMA− lesions are a negative predictor of overall survival in patients with mCRPC undergoing RLT. However, it remains to be determined if patients with FDG+/PSMA− lesions should be excluded from PSMA RLT.

ObjectivesAn increasing number of International Medical Graduates (IMG), who are defined to be physicians working in a country other than their country of origin and training, immigrate to Western countries. In order to ensure safe and high-quality patient care, they have to take medical and language tests. This systematic review aims to (1) collect all empiric research on intercultural communication of IMGs in medical settings, (2) identify and categorize all text passages mentioning intercultural issues in the included studies, and (3) describe the most commonly reported intercultural areas of communication of IMGs.MethodsThis review was based on the PRISMA-Guidelines for systematic reviews. We conducted a broad and systematic electronic literature search for empiric research in the following databases: MEDLINE, BIOSIS Citation Index, BIOSIS Previews, KCI-Korean Journal Database and SciELO Citation Index. The search results were synthesized and analyzed with the aid of coding systems. These coding systems were based on textual analysis and derived from the themes and topics of the results and discussion sections from the included studies. A quality assessment was performed, comparing the studies with their corresponding checklist (COREQ or STROBE). Textual results of the studies were extracted and categorized.ResultsAmong 10,630 search results, 47 studies were identified for analysis. 31 studies were qualitative, 12 quantitative and 4 studies used mixed methods. The quality assessment revealed a low level of quality of the studies in general. The following intercultural problems were identified: IMGs were not familiar with shared decision-making and lower hierarchies in the health care system in general. They had difficulties with patient-centered care, the subtleties of the foreign language and with the organizational structures of the new health care system. In addition, they described the medical education in their home countries as science-oriented, without focusing on psychosocial aspects.ConclusionThere is a need for a better training of IMGs on culture-related and not culture-related topics in the new workplace country. The topics that emerged in this review constitute a basis for developing these courses. Further empiric research is needed to describe the findings of this review more precisely and should be in accordance with the existing reporting guidelines.

We aimed to determine the impact of fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI)-directed molecular imaging on staging and therapeutic management in patients affected with digestive system tumors when compared with guideline-compatible imaging (GCI). Patients and Methods: Thirty-two patients with tumors of the digestive system were included: colon adenocarcinoma, 2/32 (6.3%); hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 6/32 (18.8%); pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC), 6/32 (18.8%), and gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms, 18/32 (56.3%). All patients underwent GCI and 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT within median 4 days. Staging outcomes and subsequent treatment decisions were compared between GCI and 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT. Results: Compared with GCI, 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT led to staging changes in 15/32 patients (46.9%). Among those, downstaging was recorded in 3/15 cases (20.0%) and upstaging in the remaining 12/15 patients (HCC, 4/12 [33.3%]; PDAC, 4/12 [33.3%]; neuroendocrine neoplasms, 3/12 [25%]; colon adenocarcinoma, 1/12 [8.3%]). Therapeutic management was impacted in 8/32 patients (25.0%), including 4 instances of major and 4 instances of minor therapeutic changes. The highest proportion of treatment modifications was observed in patients diagnosed with PDAC and HCC in 6/8 (75%). Conclusions: In patients affected with digestive system tumors, 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT resulted in staging changes in more than 46% and therapeutic modifications in 25% of the cases, in particular in patients with HCC and PDAC. In clinical routine, such findings may favor a more widespread adoption of FAP-directed imaging in those tumor types.

Aim In patients with metastasized castration-resistant prostate cancer a reliable imaging-based therapy response assessment in addition to PSA kinetics is desirable. Recently, measurements of whole-body tumour burden by [68Ga]PSMA-11 PET/CT have been reported for response assessment in oligometastasic patients. The present study investigated the association of PSMA PET derived parameters and serum PSA level before and after [177Lu]PSMA-617 radioligand therapy (RLT). Methods This retrospective study assessed whole-body PSMA tumour volume (PSMA-TV) in 10 patients with multifocal to diffuse metastases before and after 2 cycles of RLT using volume of interest (VOI) analysis. A standardized uptake value (SUV) threshold-based approach was used to semi-automatically delineate all voxels with a SUV ≥ 2.0 g/ml using the software ROVER® (ABX Radeberg, Germany). Voxels with physiological tracer uptake (e. g. kidneys) were excluded manually. Correlations between PSMA-TV and serum PSA level before and after two cycles of RLT as well as changes thereof (ΔPSMA-TV and ΔPSA, respectively) were calculated. Results Changes of ΔPSMA-TV and ΔPSA were concordant in 7 of 10 patients. Whereas a good correlation was found between PSMA-TV and PSA before RLT (ρ = 0.81, p = 0.0049), this correlation was attenuated after RLT (ρ = 0.64, p = 0.0479). Consequently, no association was found between ΔPSMA-TV and ΔPSA (ρ = 0.39, p = 0.26). Conclusion The attenuation of the correlation of PSA and PSMA-TV after RLT suggests that in patients with advanced disease the comparison of imaging based parameters such as PSMA-TV and PSA level might be useful for an adequate monitoring of treatment response.