Abstract:
PURPOSE : The incidence of prostate cancer is 60% higher and
the mortality rate is two- to three-times greater in black versus
white men. We report on differences in 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT imaging findings in 77 black South-African (BSAs) and
18 white South-African (WSAs) treatment-naïve primary
prostate carcinoma (PPC) patients.
METHODS : 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT imaging findings were
compared to histological, biochemical and morphological imaging
data. Patients were grouped into three Gleason grade
groups (GG), GG 1 (scores 3 + 3 and 3 + 4), GG2 (scores
4 + 3 and 4 + 4) and GG3 (scores 9 and 10), and the PSA
difference among the groups was determined. Inter-racial difference
in SUVmax of the primary tumor as well as its correlation
with serum PSA were also determined.
RESULTS : Ninety-three out of 95 PPC where readily identified
on 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT imaging. Median PPC SUVmax
and serum PSA values proved significantly higher (p = 0.033
and p = 0.003) in GG3 patients (median 16.4 and 180 ng/ml)
when compared to GG1 patients (median 9.6 and 25.1 ng/ml)
or GG2 patients (median 8.8 and 46.2 ng/ml). SUVmax significantly
correlated with serum PSA-values (r = 0.377
(p = 0.0001)). Age, frequency of lymph node involvement
and distant metastases, and GGs (p ≥ 0.153) were similar in
BSAs and WSAs, both median serum PSA-values as well as
SUVmax values proved significantly higher in BSAs when
compared to WSAs, respectively, 81.6 ng/ml versus 14.5 ng/
ml (p = 0.0001) and 11.9 versus 4.38 (p = 0.004). Moreover,
Gleason-score normalized median SUVmax values proved
2.5 times higher in BSAs when compared to WSAs
(p = 0.005).
CONCLUSION : SUVmax values proved significantly related to
GG and to be significantly higher in BSAs when compared
to WSAs. Also, SUVmax significantly correlated with serum
PSA values, which was significantly higher in BSAs when
compared with WSAs.
