Diagnostic Performance of 18F-Fluciclovine in Detection of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases.

PURPOSE: F-fluciclovine is a synthetic amino acid radiotracer that has recently been approved in Europe and the United States for PET imaging in men with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer after prior definitive treatment. Accurate identification of the sites of disease in patients presenting with BCR of prostate cancer is important in determining the appropriate treatment. Bone is the most frequent site of metastatic disease in patients with prostate cancer.

METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive review of the available preclinical and clinical data on the diagnostic performance of F-fluciclovine PET/CT in an attempt to draw practical and general conclusions on the utility and limitations of F-fluciclovine PET/CT in localization of osseous metastatic disease in prostate cancer.

RESULTS: The cumulative preclinical data and results of some retrospective and 2 prospective clinical studies suggest that F-fluciclovine can detect early bone marrow involvement in patients with BCR of prostate cancer and negative prior bone-specific imaging findings.

CONCLUSIONS: F-fluciclovine PET/CT seems to offer useful information for early detection of bone metastases in men with BCR of prostate cancer. Additional investigations will be needed to compare the diagnostic performance of F-fluciclovine PET/CT to other standard and novel imaging methods in initial staging, BCR, and castrate-resistant phases of disease.