Antihormonal-Treatment Status Affects 68Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC PET Biodistribution in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is known to influence the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression of prostate cancer, potentially complicating the interpretation of PSMA ligand PET findings and affecting PSMA radioligand therapy. However, the impact of ADT on PSMA ligand biodistribution in nontumorous organs is not well understood. Methods: Men (n = 112) with histologically proven prostate cancer who underwent ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC (⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11) PET/CT between November 2015 and July 2021 at the Medical University Vienna with known ADT status were retrospectively recruited. Fifty-six patients were on gonadotropin-releasing hormone-interfering ADT at the time of imaging (ADT group), whereas 56 patients with no history of ADT served as a control group. Physiologically PSMA-expressing organs (salivary glands, kidneys, liver, and spleen) were delineated, and their uptake was compared according to their data distributions. Multivariate regression analysis assessed the relationship between renal, hepatic, splenic, and salivary gland uptake and the explanatory variables metabolic tumor volume, glomerular filtration rate, and ADT status. Results: ADT was associated with lower levels of PSMA uptake in the kidneys (SUV_mean: Δ[ADT - control] = -7.89; 95% CI, -10.73 to -5.04; P < 0.001), liver (SUV_peak: Δ[ADT - control] = -2.3; 95% CI, -5.72 to -0.93; P = 0.003), spleen (SUV_peak: Δ[ADT - control] = -1.27; 95% CI, -3.61 to -0.16; P = 0.033), and salivary glands (SUV_mean: Δ[ADT - control] = -1.04; 95% CI, -2.48 to -0.13; P = 0.027). In a multivariate analysis, ADT was found to be associated with lower renal (SUV_mean: β = -7.95; 95% CI, -11.06 to -4.84; P < 0.0001), hepatic (SUV_peak: β = -7.85; 95% CI, -11.78 to -3.91; P < 0.0001), splenic (SUV_peak: β = -5.83; 95% CI, -9.95 to -1.7; P = 0.006), and salivary gland (SUV_mean: β = -1.47; 95% CI, -2.76 to -0.17; P = 0.027) uptake. A higher glomerular filtration rate was associated with a higher renal SUV_mean (β = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.26; P = 0.0034). Conclusion: These findings suggest that ADT systemically modulates PSMA expression, which may have implications for treatment-optimizing and side-effect-minimizing strategies for PSMA radioligand therapies, particularly those using more potent ²²⁵Ac-labeled PSMA conjugates.

Keywords: PSMA PET; androgen deprivation therapy; biodistribution; prostate cancer.