Evaluation of [(68) Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T PET/CT with additional late scans of the pelvis in prostate-specific antigen recurrence using the PROMISE criteria

BACKGROUND: PSMA PET/CT is the recommended imaging test in cases with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence after primary therapy of prostate cancer (PCa). However, imaging protocols remain a topic of active research. The aim of the presented study was to examine the impact of additional late scans of the pelvis in [(68) Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T PET/CT of patients with rising PSA after prostatectomy. METHODS: A total of 297 patients (median PSA 0.35 ng/ml, interquartile range (IQR) 0.2–0.8) who underwent early whole-body [(68) Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T PET/CT (median dose 141 MBq, IQR 120–163; median 86 min, IQR 56–107) and additional late scans of the pelvis (median 180 min, IQR 170–191) were investigated retrospectively. Early and late images were staged separately according to the PROMISE criteria and compared with a final consensus of both. Standardized uptake values were analyzed for early and late scans. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-four (45.1%) [(68) Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T PET/CT showed evidence of recurrent PCa (114/38.4% early, 131/44.1% late). Of 195 lesions, 144 (73.8%) were identified correctly on early scans. 191 (97.9%) lesions were detected on late imaging. The lesion SUVmax (median 3.4, IQR 0.4–6.5 vs. median 3.9, IQR 2.6–8.2) as well as the SUVmax to background ratio (median 9.4, IQR 1.7–19.1 vs. median 15.5, IQR 9.6–34.1) increased significantly between the imaging time points (p < 0.01, respectively). Compared to the final consensus, the miTNM-staging of early scans changed in 58 (19.5%) cases. Of these, 31 patients (10.4%) with negative early scans (T0 N0 M0) were upstaged. Twenty-seven (9.1%) patients with PCa characteristic lesions on early imaging (> T0 N0 M0) were up- and/or downstaged. In 4 (1.3%) cases, PCa-related lesions were only detectable on early PET/CT leading to upstagings of late imaging. CONCLUSIONS: Additional late scans of the pelvis in [(68) Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T PET/CT detected more lesions and an increasing contrast compared to early imaging. This influenced the final miTNM-staging substantially. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13550-022-00938-3.