Bone Scan Index as an Imaging Biomarker in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer: A Multicentre Study Based on Patients Treated with Abiraterone Acetate (Zytiga) in Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: Abiraterone acetate (AA) prolongs survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients. To measure treatment response accurately in bone, quantitative methods are needed. The Bone Scan Index (BSI), a prognostic imaging biomarker, reflects the tumour burden in bone as a percentage of the total skeletal mass calculated from bone scintigraphy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of BSI as a biomarker for outcome evaluation in mCRPC patients on treatment with AA according to clinical routine.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively studied 104 mCRPC patients who received AA following disease progression after chemotherapy. All patients underwent whole-body bone scintigraphy before and during AA treatment. Baseline and follow-up BSI data were obtained using EXINI BoneBSI software (EXINI Diagnostics AB, Lund, Sweden).

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Associations between change in BSI, clinical parameters at follow-up, and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Cox proportional hazards regression models and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Discrimination between variables was assessed using the concordance index (C-index).

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Patients with an increase in BSI at follow-up of at most 0.30 (n=54) had a significantly longer median survival time than those with an increase of BSI >0.30 (n=50) (median: 16 vs 10 mo; p=0.001). BSI change was also associated with OS in a multivariate Cox analysis including commonly used clinical parameters for prognosis (C-index=0.7; hazard ratio: 1.1; p=0.03). The retrospective design was a limitation.

CONCLUSIONS: Change in BSI was significantly associated with OS in mCRPC patients undergoing AA treatment following disease progression in a postchemotherapy setting. BSI may be a useful imaging biomarker for outcome evaluation in this group of patients, and it could be a valuable complementary tool in monitoring patients with mCRPC on second-line therapies.

PATIENT SUMMARY: Bone Scan Index (BSI) change is related to survival time in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients on abiraterone acetate. BSI may be a valuable complementary decision-making tool supporting physicians monitoring patients with mCRPC on second-line therapies.