CClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT05297162PROSPET-BXUpdated Apr 28, 2022

PSMA PET/CT vs. mpMRI in Patients With a High Suspicion of Prostate Cancer: a Head to Head, Parallel, Prospective Trial

An interventional study of PSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy in Prostate Cancer, sponsored by Istituto Clinico Humanitas. Status unknown at 1 site in Italy. Open to male participants. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-04-28.

Sponsored by Istituto Clinico Humanitas · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Mar 2022), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
128
Allocation
Not applicable
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

This is prospective single-arm case-control study designed to compare in parallel PSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy ("experimental test") with mpMRI/TRUS fusion prostate biopsy ("standard test") in men with a high suspicion of PCa after at least one negative biopsy.

Read the detailed description

All patients fulfilling inclusion criteria and providing informed consent to the study will undergo mpMRI and PSMA PET followed by software assisted fusion biopsy, performed in day-hospital setting.

The inclusion criteria are: blood PSA level >4.0ng/ml; free-to-total PSA ratio \<20%; progressive rise of PSA levels in two consecutive blood samples despite antibiotics; serum blood tests suspicious for PCa; at least one previous negative biopsy (min 12 cores); ASAP and/or high-grade PIN; negative digital rectal examination.

The exclusion criteria are: antiandrogen therapy; prostate needle biopsy \<21 days before PET and/or mpMRI; known active secondary cancer; endorectal coil/probe not applicable; active prostatitis; anaphylaxis against gadolinium-DOTA.

The total duration of the project is 36 months. We expect to enroll the first patient within 1 month after study activation, and complete recruitment within 30 months. Completion of all study analyses on biological materials and experimental imaging is expected within 32 months. The last period is planned for data analysis, biostatistics and manuscript preparation.

All patients eligible according to inclusion criteria and having signed the informed consent will undergo 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT and mpMRI scans within one month distance from each. Dedicated software for image visualization will be used to interpret and quantify 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT SUVmax and SUVratio. Images will be analyzed by an expert nuclear physician; who will proceed to the definition of the suspicious areas candidate to biopsy. mpMRI will be evaluated by an expert radiologist using the following phases: morphological, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and spectroscopy. Reading criteria for mpMRI will be determined based on PI-RADS ver.2 [29]. Target delineation on PSMA PET and mpMRI will be performed as previously described [References].

Biopsy session will be completed within one month from 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT and mpMRI scans. Targeted TRUS-fusion needle biopsy will be performed for all lesions detected with PET and mpMRI. A subsequent randomized biopsy sampling consisting of 12 samples will be performed from the peripheral region of the prostate. The biopsy frustules will then be evaluated by an expert pathologist on PCa detection.

02

Conditions studied

  • Prostate Cancer

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • PSMA PET/CT
  • Primary Diagnosis
  • multiparametric MRI
03

In context

Prostatic Neoplasms

6,370 studies on the registry are indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms; 1,399 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 128 is above the median of 58 across 4,822 interventional studies indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms.

Browse Prostatic Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Istituto Clinico Humanitas is the lead sponsor of 275 studies on the registry; 71 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Age >18 years
  • blood PSA level >4.0ng/ml;
  • free-to-total PSA ratio \<20%;
  • progressive rise of PSA levels in two consecutive blood samples despite antibiotics;
  • serum blood tests suspicious for PCa;
  • at least one previous negative biopsy (min 12 cores);
  • ASAP and/or high-grade PIN;
  • negative digital rectal examination.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • antiandrogen therapy;
  • prostate needle biopsy \<21 days before PET and/or mpMRI;
  • known active secondary cancer;
  • endorectal coil/probe not applicable;
  • active prostatitis;
  • anaphylaxis against gadolinium-DOTA.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
128 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    PSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy

    Single-arm case-control imaging trial designed to compare in parallel PSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy ("experimental test") with mpMRI/TRUS fusion prostate biopsy ("standard test") in men suspected for PCa after at least one negative biopsy.

    Diagnostic Test: PSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testPSMA PET/TRUS (trans-rectal or trans-perineal) fusion biopsy

    The prostate profile and ROIs will be drawn on PSMA PET and mpMRI and fused in real time with the TRUS image stack during biopsy. Biopsies, transrectal or transperineal according to lesion site, will be performed with patients in the dorsal lithotomy position, under antibiotic prophylaxis and local anesthesia, using 3D triplane transrectal ultrasound system (BK Medical, Analogic Ultrasound Group, Pro Focus, Transducer 8818, 6/9 MHz). Biopsy cores will be numbered according to ROI number and topography. Specimens will be processed and evaluated by a genitourinary pathologist. Tumor foci will be quantified and graded according to the ISUP consensus conference on Gleason grading.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Sensitivity, Specificity, NPV, PPV, Accuracy

    To evaluate the diagnostic performance of PSMA PET-TRUS fusion prostate biopsy in determining the presence of PCa in comparison to mpMRI-TRUS fusion prostate biopsy analyzed in parallel in the same subset of patients.

    Time frame: 36 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Standardized uptake value and Gleason Score

    To determine the correlations between the "index test" standardized uptake values (i.e. SUVmax, SUVratio; SUVmean) and the histopathological characteristics of the specimen (Gleason Score) in order to validate optimal cut-off points able to detect intraprostatic malignancy and differentiate clinically relevant PCa lesions.

    Time frame: 36 months

  2. Number of spared biopsies

    To determine the clinical utility of the "index test" compared to the "standard test in terms of number of spared biopsies compared to mpMRI.

    Time frame: 36 months

  3. Cost-effectiveness

    To determine the clinical utility of the "index test" compared to the "standard test in terms of cost-effectiveness.

    Time frame: 36 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital
    Rozzano, 20089, Italy
    • Egesta Lopci, MD, PhD · Contact
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Lopci E, Lughezzani G, Castello A, Saita A, Colombo P, Hurle R, Peschechera R, Benetti A, Zandegiacomo S, Pasini L, Casale P, Pietro D, Bevilacqua G, Balzarini L, Buffi NM, Guazzoni G, Lazzeri M. Prospective Evaluation of 68Ga-labeled Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Ligand Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Primary Prostate Cancer Diagnosis. Eur Urol Focus. 2021 Jul;7(4):764-771. doi: 10.1016/j.euf.2020.03.004. Epub 2020 Apr 17. PubMed 32312701 ↗
  • Lopci E, Lughezzani G, Castello A, Colombo P, Casale P, Saita A, Buffi NM, Guazzoni G, Chiti A, Lazzeri M. PSMA-PET and micro-ultrasound potential in the diagnostic pathway of prostate cancer. Clin Transl Oncol. 2021 Jan;23(1):172-178. doi: 10.1007/s12094-020-02384-w. Epub 2020 May 23. PubMed 32447644 ↗
  • Lopci E, Saita A, Lazzeri M, Lughezzani G, Colombo P, Buffi NM, Hurle R, Marzo K, Peschechera R, Benetti A, Zandegiacomo S, Pasini L, Lista G, Cardone P, Castello A, Maffei D, Balzarini L, Chiti A, Guazzoni G, Casale P. 68Ga-PSMA Positron Emission Tomography/Computerized Tomography for Primary Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer in Men with Contraindications to or Negative Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Prospective Observational Study. J Urol. 2018 Jul;200(1):95-103. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2018.01.079. Epub 2018 Feb 1. PubMed 29409824 ↗
  • Lopci E, Lazzeri M. Re: Michael S. Hofman, Nathan Lawrentschuk, Roslyn J. Francis, et al. Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen PET-CT in Patients with High-risk Prostate Cancer Before Curative-intent Surgery or Radiotherapy (proPSMA): A Prospective, Randomised, Multi-centre Study. Lancet 2020;395:1208-16: PSMA Positron Emission Tomography: One Tracer Fixes Them All! Eur Urol. 2020 Sep;78(3):e131-e132. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2020.06.054. Epub 2020 Jul 9. No abstract available. PubMed 32653324 ↗
  • Lopci E, Colombo P, Lazzeri M. Mismatched Imaging Findings of Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: 68 Ga-PSMA PET/CT vs mpMRI. Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Aug;55(4):199-202. doi: 10.1007/s13139-021-00701-x. Epub 2021 Jun 2. PubMed 34422131 ↗
  • Lopci E, Piccardo A, Lazzeri M. Prostate cancer imaging and therapeutic alternatives with highly specific molecular 'probes'. BJU Int. 2019 Aug;124(2):188-189. doi: 10.1111/bju.14713. Epub 2019 Mar 14. No abstract available. PubMed 30785658 ↗
  • Lopci E, Guazzoni G, Lazzeri M. 68Ga Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen PET/CT for Primary Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer: Complementary or Alternative to Multiparametric MR Imaging. Radiology. 2018 May;287(2):725-726. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2017172607. No abstract available. PubMed 29668418 ↗
  • Lazzeri M, Lopci E, Lughezzani G, Colombo P, Casale P, Hurle R, Saita A, Leonardi L, Lista G, Peschechera R, Pasini L, Rodari M, Zandegiacomo S, Benetti A, Cardone P, Mrakic F, Balzarini L, Chiti A, Guazzoni G, Buffi NM. Targeted 11C-choline PET-CT/TRUS software fusion-guided prostate biopsy in men with persistently elevated PSA and negative mpMRI after previous negative biopsy. Eur J Hybrid Imaging. 2017;1(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s41824-017-0011-1. Epub 2017 Nov 1. PubMed 29782590 ↗
  • Evangelista L, Lopci E. Re: Hendrik Van Poppel, Renee Hogenhout, Peter Albers, et al. Early Detection of Prostate Cancer in 2020 and Beyond: Facts and Recommendations for the European Union and the European Commission. Eur Urol 2021;79:327-9: Early Detection of Prostate Cancer in High-risk Patients with Negative Fusion Biopsy. Eur Urol. 2021 Jul;80(1):e24-e27. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2021.04.026. Epub 2021 May 2. No abstract available. PubMed 33947593 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 28, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05297162
Lead sponsor
Istituto Clinico Humanitas
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 28, 2022
Start date
Apr 1, 2022
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2024 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 1, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 28, 2022

Study contacts

Egesta Lopci, MD, PhD
Contact
egesta.lopci@gmail.com
+390282247542
Egesta Lopci, MD, PhD
principal investigator · IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Mar 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion