Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer deaths in American men. The lethal form of the disease is metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing has been relied upon heavily as a marker of disease and is commonly used in the community to guide therapy.
PyL, also known as \[18F\]DCFPyL, is a second-generation fluorinated prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent. In preliminary studies it demonstrates a higher detection of metastatic prostate lesions compared to standard imaging. However, the role of \[18F\] PyL in tumor response to therapy has not been evaluated, specifically the potential to serve as a predictive biomarker of response. Given the high cost of current therapeutic agents in mCRPC, there is a need for an early response biomarker to stratify which patients will benefit from therapy and which will not. This will also allow for earlier change in management of patients who will not response to these therapies, potentially improving patient outcomes.
