When a patient is diagnosed with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, doctors must decide how to manage the spread of the disease. One key step is determining if the cancer has reached the lymph nodes. This information helps shape the surgical plan and the overall treatment path for the patient.
Researchers looked at data from 1,619 patients to see how well a specific type of imaging, called a PSMA PET scan, performs at finding this spread. The results showed that the scan is very specific, meaning it is highly accurate at confirming lymph node involvement when it is present. It also showed a high negative predictive value, which means it is very reliable at showing when lymph nodes are clear of cancer.
While the scan is reliable at confirming clear nodes, its sensitivity for finding every instance of spread was lower. Because of these mixed results and the risk of missing very small amounts of disease, the findings are still being weighed by experts. These results suggest that a clear scan might help doctors decide whether to skip certain lymph node removals during surgery, but this choice depends on the specific case.
