Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to develop a methodology for the comparison of pathology specimens after prostatectomy (post-S) with PET images obtained before surgery (pre-S). This method was used to evaluate the merit of 11C-choline PET/CT for delineation of gross tumour volume (GTV) in prostate cancer (PC).
Methods
In 28 PC patients, 11C-choline PET/CT was performed before surgery. PET/CT data were coregistered with the pathology specimens. GTV on PET images (GTV-PET) was outlined automatically and corrected manually. Tumour volume in the prostate (TVP) was delineated manually on the pathology specimens. Based on the coregistered PET/pathology images, the following parameters were assessed: SUVmax and SUVmean in the tumoral and nontumoral prostate (NP), GTV-PET (millilitres) and TVP (millilitres).
Results
PET/pathology image coregistration was satisfactory. Mean SUVmax in the TVP was lower than in the NP: 5.0 and 5.5, respectively (p = 0.093). Considering the entire prostate, SUVmax was located in the TVP in two patients, in the TVP and NP in 12 patients and exclusively in NP in 14 patients. Partial overlap the TVP and GTV-PET was seen in 71 % of patients, and complete overlap in 4 %.
Conclusion
PET/pathology image coregistration can be used for evaluation of different imaging modalities. 11C-Choline PET failed to distinguish tumour from nontumour tissue.
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The authors wish to thank Mark Gainey for proof-reading the manuscript.
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Grosu, AL., Weirich, G., Wendl, C. et al. 11C-Choline PET/pathology image coregistration in primary localized prostate cancer. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 41, 2242–2248 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-014-2861-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-014-2861-0