RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Role of <sup>64</sup>CuCl<sub>2</sub> PET/CT in Detecting and Staging Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Comparison with Contrast-Enhanced CT and <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1357
OP 1363
DO 10.2967/jnumed.124.267474
VO 65
IS 9
A1 Piccardo, Arnoldo
A1 Bottoni, Gianluca
A1 Puppo, Cristina
A1 Massollo, Michela
A1 Ugolini, Martina
A1 Shoushtari Zadeh Naseri, Mehrdad
A1 Melani, Enrico
A1 Tomasello, Laura
A1 Boitano, Monica
A1 DeCensi, Andrea
A1 Sambucco, Beatrice
A1 Campodonico, Fabio
A1 Altrinetti, Vania
A1 Ennas, Marco
A1 Urru, Alessia
A1 Negro, Carlo Luigi Augusto
A1 Timossi, Luca
A1 Treglia, Giorgio
A1 Introini, Carlo
A1 Fiz, Francesco
YR 2024
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/65/9/1357.abstract
AB Molecular imaging of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MBC) is restricted to its locoregional and distant metastases, since most radiopharmaceuticals have a urinary excretion that limits the visualization of the primary tumor. 64CuCl2, a positron-emitting radiotracer with nearly exclusive biliary elimination, could be well suited to exploring urinary tract neoplasms. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of 64CuCl2-based staging of patients with MBC; furthermore, we compared the diagnostic capability of this method with those of the current gold standards, that is, contrast-enhanced CT (ceCT) and 18F-FDG PET/CT. Methods: We prospectively enrolled patients referred to our institution for pathology-confirmed MBC staging/restaging between September 2021 and January 2023. All patients underwent ceCT, 18F-FDG, and 64CuCl2 PET/CT within 2 wk. Patient-based analysis and lesion-based analysis were performed for all of the potentially affected districts (overall, bladder wall, lymph nodes, skeleton, liver, lung, and pelvic soft tissue). Results: Forty-two patients (9 women) were enrolled. Thirty-six (86%) had evidence of disease, with a total of 353 disease sites. On patient-based analysis, ceCT and 64CuCl2 PET/CT showed higher sensitivity than 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting the primary tumor (P &lt; 0.001); moreover, 64CuCl2 PET/CT was slightly more sensitive than 18F-FDG PET/CT in disclosing soft-tissue lesions (P &lt; 0.05). Both PET methods were more specific and accurate than ceCT in classifying nodal lesions (P &lt; 0.05). On lesion-based analysis, 64CuCl2 PET/CT outperformed 18F-FDG PET/CT and ceCT in detecting disease localizations overall (P &lt; 0.001), in the lymph nodes (P &lt; 0.01), in the skeleton (P &lt; 0.001), and in the soft tissue (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: 64CuCl2 PET/CT appears to be a sensitive modality for staging/restaging of MBC and might represent a “one-stop shop” diagnostic method in these scenarios.