Enhancing Prostate Cancer Staging: Association of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT Imaging with Histopathological Grading in Treatment-Naive Patients

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between 68Ga-PSMA uptake in PSMA PET/CT in primary prostate cancer (PC) and its histopathological grading (Gleason score and ISUP grade). Additionally, we compared preoperative biopsy histopathological findings with definitive pathology results in radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 86 patients who underwent 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT for primary PC staging, of which 40 patients later underwent radical prostatectomy. PET/CT results, including SUVmax values, were correlated with GS and PSA concentrations. Histopathology reports were analyzed and compared between biopsy and final pathology results following RP. Results: A significant positive correlation was observed between SUVmax and ISUP grades (Pearson’s ρ = 0.34, p < 0.001), with higher SUVmax values associated with more advanced grades. A cut-off SUVmax value of 5.64 was determined to predict upstaging in patients, yielding a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 60% (AUC = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.70–0.94). Additionally, 57.5% of patients experienced a grade shift following RP, with a 35% upgrade and 22.5% downgrade in ISUP grades. Conclusion: 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting high-risk prostate cancer, particularly in patients with GS > 7 or PSA levels ≥ 10 ng/mL. The findings suggest that this imaging modality may be less effective for the staging of patients with lower GS or PSA values, that is, low-risk PCa. Further prospective studies are necessary to validate these results.