Editorial: Exploring the Potential of PSMA-PET Imaging on Personalized Prostate Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Editorial on the Research TopicExploring the Potential of PSMA-PET Imaging on Personalized Prostate Cancer Treatment INTRODUCTIONProstate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis made in men worldwide (1). Accurate and reliable diagnostic medical imaging is a frequent prerequisite for personalized treatment approaches in patients with PCa by enabling, in part, (i) understanding extent of disease, (ii) accurate segmentation of PCa lesions and, (iii) non-invasive tumor characterization, for example, using radiomics or artificial intelligence tools (2).Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) has been found to be selectively overexpressed in PCa cells (3) and can be traced by radio-labelled peptide ligands in positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET). First studies suggested excellent diagnostic accuracy and a major impact on therapeutic approaches for PSMA-PET in newly diagnosed (4), recurrent (5) or metastatic PCa patients (4). The goal of this Research Topic was to concentrate scientific contributions on the growing evidence of integrating PSMA-PET imaging in personalized PCa treatment concepts.The Research Topic accepted 15 articles including a total of 126 authors, demonstrating the growing interest in the field of PSMA-PET imaging. The manuscripts of the Research Topic can be divided into the following topics.

Multicentric 68Ga-PSMA PET radiomics for treatment response assessment of 177Lu-PSMA-617 radioligand therapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

“…68 Galabelled PSMA positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PSMA PET/CT) has been applied successfully for primary staging, image-guided radiotherapy and surgery in recurrent prostate cancer and advanced-stage metastatic prostate cancer (4)(5)(6). Thus, there is growing evidence of integrating PSMA PET/CT imaging in personalized prostate cancer treatment concepts (7). Moreover, it is recommended for patient selection and treatment monitoring by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) procedure guidelines for radionuclide therapy with 177 Lu-labelled PSMA-ligands ( 177 Lu-PSMA) (8).…”