Published in:
01-11-2011 | Editorial Commentary
Do we have to withdraw antiandrogenic therapy in prostate cancer patients before PET/CT with [11C]choline?
Author:
Giampiero Giovacchini
Published in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|
Issue 11/2011
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Excerpt
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a frequent treatment used in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). ADT can be used as neoadjuvant therapy before radical prostatectomy to decrease the rates of local recurrence and positive margins, as primary treatment for PCa, and as adjuvant therapy after radical prostatectomy, in a continuous or intermittent regimen [
1,
2]. ADT can be performed with different drugs, including gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, GnRH antagonists, antagonists of the androgen receptor, and 5α-reductase inhibitors [
1,
2]. ADT leads to depletion of testosterone levels, inactivation of the androgen receptor, or both (i.e. castration) [
2]. As normal prostate cells as well as PCa cells are initially dependent on testosterone for replication and growth, many cancer cells will senesce in response to the onset of the biochemical castration state [
2]. In spite of castration, many patients will experience an increase in PSA and ultimately will develop metastases (i.e. androgen-independence or hormonal resistance) [
1,
2]. …
