⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET/CT–Based Atlas for Prostate Bed Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy: Clinical Implications for Salvage Radiation Therapy Contouring Guidelines

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of prostate bed (PB) recurrence in prostate cancer patients experiencing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) persistence (BCP) or biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy using ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT (⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET) in relation to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) clinical target volumes (CTVs). Methods: This single-center, retrospective analysis included patients with BCP or BCR after radical prostatectomy and PB recurrence on ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET. The PB recurrences were delineated by nuclear medicine physicians, the CTVs by radiation oncologists contouring guidelines on the ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET, respectively, masked from each other. The coverage of the ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET recurrence was categorized as PSMA recurrence completely covered, partially covered, or not covered by the RTOG-based CTV. Further, we evaluated the differences in PSMA recurrence patterns among patients with different ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET staging (miTNM). Mann–Whitney U tests, the chi-square test, and Spearman (ρ) correlation analysis were used to investigate associations between CTV coverage and ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET–based tumor volume, serum PSA levels, miTNM, and rectal/bladder involvement. Results: A total of 226 patients were included in the analysis; 127 patients had PSMA recurrence limited to the PB (miTrN0M0), 30 had pelvic nodal disease (miTrN1M0), 32 had extrapelvic disease (miTrN0M1), and 37 had both pelvic nodal disease and extrapelvic disease (miTrN1M1). In the miTrN0M0 cohort, the recurrence involved the rectal and bladder walls in 12 of 127 (9%) and 4 of 127 (3%), respectively. The PSMA-positive PB recurrences were completely covered by the CTV in 68 of 127 patients (53%), partially covered in 43 of 127 (34%), and not covered in 16 of 127 (13%). Full coverage was associated with a smaller tumor volume (P = 0.043), a lack of rectal/bladder wall involvement (P = 0.03), and lower miTNM staging (P = 0.035) but not with lower serum PSA levels (P = 0.979). Conclusion: Our study suggests that ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET can be a valuable tool for guiding salvage radiation therapy (SRT) planning directed to the PB in the setting of postoperative BCR or BCP. These data should be incorporated into the redefinition of PB contouring guidelines.