Clinical evidence on PET/CT for radiation therapy planning in prostate cancer

The present chapter is focused on the role of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and [11C]-labelled Choline ([11C]Choline) for the management of prostate cancer patients for radiation therapy planning. Although still a matter of debate. PET/CT with [11C]Choline is not routinely recommended for selecting patients for prostate cancer primary radiation treatment. However, due to its high accuracy in detecting and localizing recurrences when a biochemical failure occurs, [11C]Choline PET/CT may play a role in the re-staging phase to distinguish patients with local versus distant relapse, thus influencing patient management (curative versus palliative therapy). Limited data are currently available on the role of [11C]Choline PET/CT in target volume selection and delineation. According to available literature, [11C]Choline PET/CT is not clinically recommendable to plan target volume both for primary prostate treatment and for local recurrence. Nevertheless, promising data suggested a potential role of [11C]Choline PET/CT as an image guide tool for the irradiation of prostate cancer relapse. (C) 2010 European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and European Association of Nuclear Medicine. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 96 (2010) 347-350