Background: Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a rare neoplasm, and the role of both conventional imaging (CI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for its assessment has not been clearly evaluated and demonstrated. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the diagnostic performances of these imaging modalities in this setting. Methods: A wide literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases was made to find relevant published articles about the role of CI and PET/CT for the evaluation of NEPC. Results: 13 studies were included in the systematic review. PET/CT imaging with different radiopharmaceuticals has been evaluated in many studies (10) compared to CI (3 studies), which has only a limited role in NEPC. Focusing on PET/CT, a study used [18F]FDG, labeled somatostatin analogs were used in 5 cases, a study used [68Ga]Ga-FAPI-04, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 was evaluated in a single case, and two works used different tracers. Conclusion: Published data on the role of PET/CT for the assessment of NEPC are limited. At present, it is still uncertain which tracer performs best, and although [18F]FDG has been evaluated and seems to offer some advantages in availability and clinical staging, other tracers may be more useful to understand tumor biology or identify targets for subsequent radioligand therapy. Further research is therefore desirable. In contrast, data are still limited to draw a final conclusion on the role and the specific characteristics of CI in this rare form of neoplasm, and therefore, more studies are needed in this setting.
背景：神经内分泌前列腺癌（NEPC）是一种罕见肿瘤，传统影像学（CI）与正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描（PET/CT）在其评估中的作用尚未得到明确评价与验证。本系统综述旨在分析这些影像学方法在此背景下的诊断效能。 方法：通过广泛检索PubMed/MEDLINE、Scopus及Web of Science数据库，筛选出关于CI与PET/CT在NEPC评估中作用的相关已发表文献。 结果：共13项研究纳入系统综述。与CI（3项研究）相比，使用不同放射性药物的PET/CT影像在多项研究（10项）中得到评估，而CI在NEPC中的作用较为有限。聚焦于PET/CT的研究中，一项研究使用[18F]FDG，5项研究使用标记的生长抑素类似物，一项研究采用[68Ga]Ga-FAPI-04，一项个案研究评估了[68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11，另有2项研究使用了不同示踪剂。 结论：目前关于PET/CT在NEPC评估中作用的已发表数据有限。现阶段仍不确定何种示踪剂表现最佳，尽管[18F]FDG经过评估且在可及性和临床分期方面似乎具有优势，但其他示踪剂可能更有助于理解肿瘤生物学特性或为后续放射性配体治疗确定靶点。因此需要进一步研究。相比之下，关于CI在此罕见肿瘤中的作用及具体特征的数据仍不足以得出最终结论，故该领域仍需更多研究探索。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家