A study published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine remarked that it noticed a huge drawback in the Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging technique and warned doctors who use only PSMA PET for diagnosis to be vigilant for faulty diagnosis.

"It is important that nuclear medicine physicians be aware of this pitfall, as the interpretation of PSMA PET scans may have a substantial impact on therapy guidance," said Christoph Rischpler, MD, in the department of nuclear medicine at the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

For detecting prostate cancer staging and metastases in imaging, PSMA proves to be a very efficient target as it is an extremely easy-to-read enzyme, helping better diagnosis and plotting of management protocol. Recent findings, however, show that PSMA elevates in response to some benign tissue as well, duplicating findings of lymph node metastases. This could lead to misdiagnosis and faulty treatment plans.

The study included 407 patients of cervical, coeliac and sacral ganglia whose whose PSMA-ligand uptake was monitored. The observations were compared with neighbouring lymph node metastases. The results revealed that in 401 patients, the uptake was higher than background calculations.

The researchers recommend the nuclear medicine physicians to evaluate PSMA-ligand uptake added to precise positioning and dimensions of the particular tumor to identify bening communicating ganglia and avert misdiagnosis with lymph node metastases.

Rischpler said, "We hope that an increased awareness among nuclear medicine physicians of this important pitfall helps to increase diagnostic accuracy and improve therapy guidance, preventing unnecessary procedures for prostate cancer patients."