A trial looking at 2 drugs used in PET scans for advanced prostate cancer

This trial was comparing 2 radioactive drugs called tracers to see which worked best at showing up prostate cancer that had spread. Hospital tests for prostate cancer include X-rays, ultrasound, bone scans and MRI and CT scans. These scans show doctors what different body tissues look like. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

This trial was looking at PET scans combined with CT scans. PET scans show doctors how tissues are working. Because cancer tissue has different activity to normal healthy tissue, they can also give more detailed information about cancer spread. PET-CT scans use radioactive drugs (tracers) to show up these areas of activity. This trial was comparing 2 tracers called cholines. They are taken up by prostate cancer cells anywhere in the body.

These choline injections are made just before they are needed, because they only work for a short time. So only hospitals close to where they are made can use them. Researchers wanted to find out if 18F choline worked as well as 11C choline at showing up areas of prostate cancer spread. The main aims of this trial were to

• Compare PET-CT scans using 18F choline with 11C choline to see which best showed up prostate cancer spread
• See if scans using 18F choline after an hour were as good as scans that used each choline straight away