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Background: Surgery is the elective treatment for cervical relapse from differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) but it is technically challenging, with risk of failure and morbidity. We explored the feasibility and the efficacy of radioguided occult lesion localization (ROLL) with intratumoral 99mTc radiolabeled human albumin macroaggregates ([99mTc]MAA) injection in this setting., Methods: Fifteen patients who underwent ROLL by ultrasonography (US)-guided intratumoral injection of [99mTc]MAA between December 2013 and October 2016 for DTC recurrence were considered for this study. A hand-held gamma-probe was employed for intrasurgical lesion detection. Mini-invasive ROLL-guided excision for soft tissue recurrence and ROLL-assisted modified radical neck dissection for lymph-node metastases were performed respectively., Results: DTC recurrence was located in loco-regional lymph-nodes (N.=8 patients) and in thyroid bed (N.=7 patients). A total of 27 lesions was identified and injected before surgery. On a total of 124 lesions resected, histology showed 38 DTC metastases. In particular, 26 out of 27 lesions injected with [99mTc]MAA were correctly detected intra-operatively and resected without surgical complications. Ten patients received subsequent radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment to verify the complete recurrence resection. At a median follow-up of 16 months patients were classified in complete response (N.=4), biochemical incomplete response (N.=3), indeterminate response (N.=1) with no evidence of structural disease. The remaining 7 patients were classified as structural incomplete response for cervical persistent disease (N.=2), for cervical recurrence (N.=2) and for both cervical and lung metastases progression (N.=3)., Conclusions: ROLL is a simple and safe procedure in the surgical management of DTC loco-regional relapse.

Objectives: The primary objective is to assess the efficacy of 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT to detect recurrent location(s) in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (PCa). Secondary objectives are (1) to evaluate changes in clinical management; (2) to determine which covariates independently predict positive scan; (3) to assess 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT performance in different settings of PSA relapse., Materials and Methods: Inclusion criteria include (1) histologically diagnosed PCa; (2) previous radical therapy; (3) proven biochemical recurrence (BCR) or biochemical persistence (BCP); (4) hormone-sensitive PCa (HSPC); (5) androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)-free for at least 6 months; (6) PSA < 1.5 ng/mL or any PSA in case of negative choline-PET/CT (n = 38). Changes in clinical management were defined by multidisciplinary tumour-board. Clinical settings were BCP (group-1, n = 25); first-time BCR (group-2, n = 121); BCR after salvage therapy (group-3, n = 77)., Results: Two hundred twenty-three (223) consecutive patients were enrolled: median PSA = 0.65 ng/mL (0.2-8.9) and median PSAdt = 9.3 months (0.4-144.6). 96.9% received RP as primary therapy. 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT positivity rate was 39.9% (CI95% 33.5-46.7%). Disease confined to pelvis was detected in 23.3% of cases. At least one distant lesion was observed in 16.6% of cases. Secondary objectives are as follows: (1) changes in clinical management were observed in 34.5% of patients; (2) PSA, PSAdt and T stage > 3a were independent predictors (all p < 0.03); (3) 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT positivity rate was 56% (in group 1, 36.3% in group 2, 40.3% in group 3., Conclusion: This study attested the overall good performance of 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT to detect PCa locations in HSPC patients eligible for salvage therapy, influencing the therapy management in 35.4% of cases. Furthermore, patient characteristics are influencing factors of 68 Ga-PSMA-11-PET/CT positivity rate and should be considered to reduce false negative scan.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a transmembrane enzyme also known as folate hydrolase 1 highly expressed by prostate cancer (PCa) cells. However, PSMA overexpression by tumor-associated neovasculature of a variety of solid tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM), has also been proven. This clinical case reports about a 67-year-old man with a history of PCa who underwent radical surgery for GBM and performed a Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT to restage PCa. PET imaging showed PSMA uptake in GBM residual disease after surgery. This finding suggests a possible role of PSMA inhibitors as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in patients affected by GBM.

Objective: The aim of this study was the assessment of semi-quantified salivary gland dynamic scintigraphy (SGdS) parameters independently and in an integrated way in order to predict primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS)., Materials and Methods: Forty-six consecutive patients (41 females; age 61 ± 11 years) with sicca syndrome were studied by SGdS after injection of 200 MBq of pertechnetate. In sixteen patients, pSS was diagnosed, according to American-European Consensus Group criteria (AECGc). Semi-quantitative parameters (uptake (UP) and excretion fraction (EF)) were obtained for each gland. ROC curves were used to determine the best cut-off value. The area under the curve (AUC) was used to estimate the accuracy of each semi-quantitative analysis. To assess the correlation between scintigraphic results and disease severity, semi-quantitative parameters were plotted versus Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI). A nomogram was built to perform an integrated evaluation of all the scintigraphic semi-quantitative data., Results: Both UP and EF of salivary glands were significantly lower in pSS patients compared to those in non-pSS (p < 0.001). ROC curve showed significantly large AUC for both the parameters (p < 0.05). Parotid UP and submandibular EF, assessed by univariated and multivariate logistic regression, showed a significant and independent correlation with pSS diagnosis (p value <0.05). No correlation was found between SGdS semi-quantitative parameters and ESSDAI. The proposed nomogram accuracy was 87%., Conclusion: SGdS is an accurate and reproducible tool for the diagnosis of pSS. ESSDAI was not shown to be correlated with SGdS data., Clinical Relevance: SGdS should be the first-line imaging technique in patients with suspected pSS.

Astrocytes establish rapid cell-to-cell communication through the release of chemical transmitters. The underlying mechanisms and functional significance of this release are, however, not well understood. Here we identify an astrocytic vesicular compartment that is competent for glutamate exocytosis. Using postembedding immunogold labeling of the rat hippocampus, we show that vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUT1/2) and the vesicular SNARE protein, cellubrevin, are both expressed in small vesicular organelles that resemble synaptic vesicles of glutamatergic terminals. Astrocytic vesicles, which are not as densely packed as their neuronal counterparts, can be observed in small groups at sites adjacent to neuronal structures bearing glutamate receptors. Fluorescently tagged VGLUT-containing vesicles were studied dynamically in living astrocytes by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. After activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors, astrocytic vesicles underwent rapid (milliseconds) Ca(2+)- and SNARE-dependent exocytic fusion that was accompanied by glutamate release. These data document the existence of a Ca(2+)-dependent quantal glutamate release activity in glia that was previously considered to be specific to synapses.