Detection of bone metastases and evaluation of therapy response in prostate cancer patients by radiolabelled choline PET/CT

Abstract

Bone is the most common site for metastases in human prostate cancer patients. Skeletal metastases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and overall greatly affect the quality of life of patients. A significant portion of patients may be treated with curative intent when micrometastatic disease is present and not detected on current imaging studies, including bone scan and computed tomography scan. Molecular imaging approaches and, in particular Choline positron emission tomography, have been investigated to improve the detection of metastatic disease in patients with prostate cancer.