An overview on prostate-specific membrane antigen uptake in malignancies other than prostate cancer: A pictorial essay

Abstract

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a Type II transmembrane glycoprotein which is extremely overexpressed in prostate cancer epithelial cells. Recently, PSMA-targeted small molecule labeled with 68 Ga and 99m Tc allowed precise molecular imaging of prostate cancer and PSMA-targeted small molecule labeled with 177Lu leads to the development of radionuclide-targeted therapy of prostate cancer. Despite its name, it has been shown that PSMA has been expressed in several malignancies which can be due to significant neovascularization. Present pictorial assay reports the nonspecific tracer uptake in some malignancies during 68 Ga-PSMA positron-emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and 99m Tc-PSMA scintigraphy.

Incidental Adiposis Dolorosa (Dercum’s Disease) Detected on 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT

“…PSMA is a type II membrane protein and is expressed in all forms of prostate tissue 3 . However, contrary to its name, it is also expressed in multiple nonprostate malignancies 4–6 . The increasing use of this imaging modality has resulted in a growing number of avid nonprostatic pathologies reported in the literature in the last few years including benign soft tissue diseases 7 .…”

“…3 However, contrary to its name, it is also expressed in multiple nonprostate malignancies. [4][5][6] The increasing use of this imaging modality has resulted in a growing number of avid nonprostatic pathologies reported in the literature in the last few years including benign soft tissue diseases. 7 Hence, it is important to increase the awareness of PSMA expression from nonprostatic pathologies.…”

Incidental Intrahepatic Hepatocellular Cholangiocarcinoma Detected on 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT

“…3 PSMA is a type II membrane protein and is expressed in all forms of prostate tissue. 4 However, contrary to its name, it has been expressed in several nonprostate malignancies, 5,6 and this has been attributed to endothelial PSMA expression as a result of neovascularization of malignant neoplasms. 3,7 With the increasing prevalence of this imaging modality, it is becoming increasingly important to increase the awareness of PSMA expression from nonprostate pathologies such as intrahepatic hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma.…”