ORIGINAL ARTICLES  LATEST ADVANCES IN RADIOPHARMACOLOGY AND RADIOPHARMACY 2009 

The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2009 August;53(4):417-21

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Incidental detection by [11C]choline PET/CT of meningiomas in prostate cancer patients

Fallanca F., Giovacchini G., Picchio M., Bettinardi V., Messa C., Fazio F. ✉

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy 2 Center for Molecular Bioimaging, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy 3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy 4 IBFM-CNR, Milan, Italy

AIM: Anti-androgenic hormonal therapy in prostate cancer patients with concomitant meningioma may result in tumor growth and development of neurological symptoms. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with [11C]choline is used for restaging prostate cancer patients with biochemical failure. In vitro and in vivo data support altered choline metabolism in meningiomas.
METHODS.During a retrospective study in prostate cancer patients with biochemical failure referred to our institution between November 2004 and Ja-nuary 2007, encephalic focal uptake of [11C]choline was incidentally noted in 4 patients, 2 of which had been taking luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogs.
RESULTS: Subsequent to the incidental finding, one patient underwent surgical removal of the meningioma; strict neuroradiological follow-up was planned for the 3 other patients.
CONCLUSIONS. We suggest that in prostate cancer patients candidate for anti-androgenic therapy the whole body [11C]choline PET/CT scan should include the whole skull to check for the possible presence of meningiomas. This could help to identify patients at risk for the development of neurological symptoms during anti-androgenic therapy and help the referring urologist in the clinical management of these patients.