68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT integrating indocyanine green-guided salvage lymph node dissection for lymph node metastasis after radical prostatectomy.

To efficiently remove all recurrent lymph nodes (rLNs) and minimize complications, we developed a combination approach that consisted of 68Gallium prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligand positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and integrated indocyanine green (ICG)-guided salvage lymph node dissection (sLND) for rLNs after radical prostatectomy (RP). Nineteen patients were enrolled to receive such treatment. 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT was used to identify rLNs, and 5 mg of ICG was injected into the space between the rectum and bladder before surgery. Fluorescent laparoscopy was used to perform sLND. While extensive LN dissection was performed at level I, another 5 mg of ICG was injected via the intravenous route to intensify the fluorescent signal, and laparoscopy was introduced to intensively target stained LNs along levels I and II, specifically around suspicious LNs, with 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT. Next, both lateral peritonea were exposed longitudinally to facilitate the removal of fluorescently stained LNs at levels III and IV. In total, pathological analysis confirmed that 42 nodes were rLNs. Among 145 positive LNs stained with ICG, 24 suspicious LNs identified with 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT were included. The sensitivity and specificity of 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT for detecting rLNs were 42.9% and 96.6%, respectively. For ICG, the sensitivity was 92.8% and the specificity was 39.1%. At a median follow-up of 15 (interquartile range [IQR]: 6-31) months, 15 patients experienced complete biochemical remission (BR, prostate-specific antigen [PSA] <0.2 ng ml-1), and 4 patients had a decline in the PSA level, but it remained >0.2 ng ml-1. Therefore, 68Ga-PSMA ligand PET/CT integrating ICG-guided sLND provides efficient sLND with few complications for patients with rLNs after RP.

Biphasic GA 68-labeled prostate specific membrane antigen-11 positron emission tomography/computed tomography scans in the differential diagnosis and risk stratification of initial primary prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the value of biphasic GA 68-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen-11 (68Ga-PSMA-11) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan in the differential diagnosis and risk stratification of initial primary prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: A total of 51 patients with PCa (8 low- and intermediate-risk PCa patients and 43 high-risk PCa patients) and 36 patients with benign prostate lesions, who underwent standard whole-body imaging and delayed pelvic imaging of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT, were enrolled in this prospective study. The PET parameters, such as maximum and mean standard uptake value (SUVmax and SUVmean), and maximum and mean standard retention index of PET images were calculated and compared in different prostate lesions. The diagnostic performances of the PET parameters were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: All the PET parameters of PCa participants were significantly higher than those of participants with benign prostate lesions (P<0.001). The SUVmean of delayed imaging had the best performance in the diagnosis of PCa with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.918 (95% CI: 0.858 to 0.977), the sensitivity of 90.0%, and specificity of 83.3%. The SUVmax and SUVmean of high-risk PCa participants were significantly higher than those of low- and intermediate-risk PCa participants (P<0.005). The SUVmax of standard imaging had the best performance in predicting high-risk PCa with an AUC of 0.890 (95% CI: 0.799 to 0.980), a sensitivity of 76.7%, and a specificity of 100.0%. CONCLUSIONS: The biphasic 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT scan had good performance in discriminating prostate cancer from benign prostate diseases. The SUVmean of the prostate lesion at delayed imaging of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT had the best value in the differential diagnosis of PCa, and the SUVmax at standard imaging was most valuable in predicting the risk stratification of PCa.

Semi-automatic evaluation of baseline whole-body tumor burden as an imaging biomarker of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in newly diagnosed prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVES: The prognostic value of baseline tumor burden of prostate cancer was rarely studied. We aimed to evaluate the whole-body tumor burden of 68Ga- prostate specific membrane antigen-HBED-CC (68Ga-PSMA-11) PET/CT in newly diagnosed prostate cancer semi-automatically, and explore its preliminary application in predicting prognosis. METHODS: Similar to metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of 18F-FDG PET/CT, 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT tumor burden parameters including whole-body PSMA tumor volume (wbPSMA-TV) and whole-body total lesions PSMA uptake (wbTL-PSMA) were acquired semi-automatically. The intra-observer and inter-observer reliability was analyzed. The relationship between tumor burden and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value or Gleason score was investigated. The preliminary application of tumor burden in predicting progression-free survival (PFS) was explored. RESULTS: Fifty-nine newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. Semi-automatic quantification of whole-body tumor burden had excellent intra-observer and inter-observer consistency [all intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) > 0.990]. wbPSMA-TV and wbTL-PSMA were 32.6 (range 1.0-3968.2) cm3 and 161.9 (range 6.0-24971.7), respectively. wbPSMA-TV and wbTL-PSMA correlated with PSA (r = 0.858, p < 0.001; r = 0.879, p < 0.001) and Gleason score (r = 0.793, p < 0.001; r = 0.805, p < 0.001) significantly. In univariate analysis, wbPSMA-TV, wbTL-PSMA, SUVmax, SUVpeak, SUVmean, PSMA-TV, TL-PSMA of primary tumor, fPSA and Gleason score were independent significant predictors of PFS (all p < 0.05). Moreover, in multivariate analysis, wbTL-PSMA [hazard ratio (HR): 1.001, p = 0.014] and Gleason score (HR: 5.124, p = 0.031) can significantly predict progression-free prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: As imaging biomarkers, wbPSMA-TV and wbTL-PSMA correlated with clinical characteristics significantly. High wbTL-PSMA or Gleason score was associated with shorter PFS of newly diagnosed prostate cancer independently.

[The rate of morphologically normal sperm does not affect the clinical outcomes of conventional IVF in patients with one retrieved oocyte].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of the rate of morphologically normal sperm (MNS) on the clinical outcomes of conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) in patients with one retrieved oocyte. METHODS: From January 2013 to January 2015, a total of 256 couples with one retrieved oocyte underwent conventional IVF in our center. According to the rate of MNS, the patients were divided into two groups: MNS < 4% (134 cycles) and MNS ≥ 4% (122 cycles). We compared the rates of no transferrable embryo cycles, fertilization, cleavage, normal fertilization, abnormal fertilization, high-quality embryo and transferrable embryo between the two groups. A total of 75 fresh embryo transfer cycles were performed, 43 in the MNS < 4% group and the other 32 in the MNS ≥ 4% group. We also compared the rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy and abortion between the two groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the rates of no transferrable embryo cycles, fertilization, cleavage, normal fertilization, abnormal fertilization, high-quality embryo and transferrable embryo (P > 0.05). The rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy and abortion exhibited no remarkable differences either in the fresh embryo transfer cycles between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The rate of MNS does not affect the clinical outcomes of conventional IVF in patients with one retrieved oocyte.

[Association of fertilization strategy and embryo transfer time with the incidence of ectopic pregnancy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of the fertilization strategy and embryo transfer (ET) time with the incidence of ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: We selected 3,331 fresh and 2,706 frozen-thawed ET cycles for the patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The fresh transfers included 2 546 IVF-ET and 785 ICSI-ET cycles and 2,220 day-3 embryo and 1,111 day-5 blastocyst transfers, while the frozen-thawed transfers included 2,080 IVF-ET and 626 ICSI-ET cycles and 741 day-3 embryo and 1 965 day-5 or -6 blastocyst transfers. We compared the incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy associated with different fertilization strategies and ET time. RESULTS: The incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy was 1. 41% (36/2 546) in the IVF-ET cycles and 3.44% (27/785) in the ICSI-ET cycles of the fresh transfers, significantly lower in the IVF-ET than in the ICSI-ET cycles (P < 0.01), and it was 1.01% (21/2,080) in the IVF-ET cycles and 0.80% (5/626) in the ICSI-ET cycles of the frozen-thawed transfers, with no remarkable difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The IVF-ET and ICSI-ET cycles included 2,220 fresh day-3 (F-D3) embryos, 1,111 F-D5 blastocysts, 741 frozen-thawed day-3 (T-D3) embryos, and 1,965 T-D5/6 blastocysts. The incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy was 1.71% (n = 38) in the F-D3, 2.25% (n = 25) in the F-D5, 1.35% (n = 10) in the T-D3, and 0.81% (n = 16) in the T-D5/6 group, respectively, significantly lower in the T-D5/6 than in the other three groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The incidence rate of ectopic pregnancy is associated with fertilization strategies, which is significantly lower in frozen-thawed than in fresh embryo transfers.

[Intracytoplasmic sperm injection does not improve the clinical outcomes of the males with 100% teratozoospermia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can improve the clinical outcomes of the male patients with 100% teratozoospermia. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 152 couples undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), including 75 cycles of IVF and 77 cycles of ICSI. We compared the rates of normal fertilization, high-quality embryos, transferrable embryos, implantation, clinical pregnancy, and abortion between the two groups. RESULTS: In the 100% teratozoospermia patients the number of transferrable embryos was significantly lower in the IVF than in the ICSI group (78.91% vs 84.92%, P < 0.05), while the rates of normal fertilization and implantation were higher in the former than in the latter (60.26% vs 57.87% and 48.00% vs 39.55%, both P > 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the female age, Gn days, Gn dose, BMI, infertility duration, endometrial thickness, and basal serum FSH and E2. CONCLUSION: ICSI cannot improve the clinical outcomes of the male patients with 100% teratozoospermia.