Prostate-Specific PET Scans

To date there has been no reliable way to quantify or to characterize prostate cancer bone metastases. Medical oncologist Michael Morris of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Genitourinary Oncology Service describes techniques to image prostate cancer metastases using novel PET imaging technology. The approaches involve the use of prostate-specific PET scans targeting the androgen receptor or prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) as a target. Doctors can use the method to localize metastases and determine how well treatments are targeting disease sites. They are the first techniques developed to visualize and characterize prostate cancer in a patient’s body in a way that cannot be accomplished using standard imaging modalities. Dr. Morris also notes that it is the first step toward creating the molecular profile of a patient’s prostate cancer in a noninvasive manner.