The Role of C-11-Choline-PET/CT-Guided Secondary Lymphadenectomy in Patients with PSA Failure after Radical Prostatectomy: Lessons Learned from Eight Cases

Introduction. 11C-choline-PET/CT is a promising technique for detection/restaging of patients with biochemical failure (BF) after curative therapy for prostate cancer (PCA). The aim of this paper was to evaluate the PSA response in patients with BF after radical prostatectomy (RP) who underwent secondary lymphadenectomy (LAD) due to 11C-choline-PET/CT findings. Material and Methods. Eight patients with BF and positive lymph nodes in 11C-choline-PET/CT after RP were retrospectively included in the study. Extended LAD until the common iliac arteries was performed in all patients. Results. Six of 8 patients had histologically proven lymph node metastases. Four patients showed an initial PSA reduction after LAD, and in 4 patients the PSA increased. Two of the latter had no histological lymph node metastases. Conclusions. Because 50% of our patients showed an initial PSA response, our data suggest that positive 11C-choline-PET/CT after RP and BF could help to select patients that could benefit from secondary LAD.