Performance of (68)Ga-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen ligand positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the diagnosis of primary prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT in diagnosing primary prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies published before July 2020. The studies that used (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT for detecting primary prostate cancer, and pathological biopsy as the reference standard were included. The selecting process used preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). The quality of enrolled studies was assessed by the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. RESULTS: According to our search strategy, 9 studies were included for analysis. A total of 547 patients with primary prostate cancer and 443 lesion segments that underwent (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT scans were included and their pathological biopsies were compared. The results of these studies showed some differences. For instance, the lowest sensitivity of (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT in diagnosing primary prostate cancer was 67%, while the highest sensitivity recorded was 97%. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with conventional imaging examinations, (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT had higher sensitivity and specificity in detecting primary prostate cancer. At present, most of the studies that used (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT for detecting prostate cancer are retrospective studies. Based on its advantage of high detection rate, the use of (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT in the detection of primary prostate cancer is worthy of promotion.