All scans were acquired over a two day period, and the pQCT scanner was calibrated prior to the commencement of scans each day.
PET scanning began 90 to 120 min after intravenous administration of F-MISO with venous blood sampling at 5, 10 and 15 min after the commencement of the scan.
Each session comprised 50 Left, 50 Right and 50 NoGo trials and lasted ∼9 min. All patients performed a training session for ∼5 min before commencement of MRI scans.
Prior to the commencement of the scan, a bead was placed on the thigh, halfway between the inguinal groove and the proximal margin of the patella measured anthropometrically by the same observer (AL) in all participants; this marker identified the area for the cross sectional image of the thigh region.
Mean time from application of levodopa to commencement of functional MRI scans was not different between groups {post-levodopa Scan 1: LID 13 ± 3 min [mean ± standard deviation (SD)] versus No-LID 15 ± 5 min, P = 0.337; post-levodopa Scan 2: LID 32 ± 3 min versus No-LID 33 ± 6 min, P = 0.375; independent samples t-tests}.
The kinetics in each region showed a rapid clearance of radioactivity peaking at the initial phase following commencement of the PET scan, which was similar to the kinetics of the conventional [11C]MMPIP.
The PET scan was started 20 to 30 s before the 1-min infusion of radiotracer (ID = 12.5 to 29.0 MBq, 0.05 to 0.29 nmol, max 0.4 ml in volume, as described above) for the duration of 60 min. Femoral arterial blood samples (approximately 50 μl/sample) were taken at 15-s intervals for 4 min after the commencement of the PET scan, and then at 10-, 20-, 30- and 50-min post-injections.
A cone phantom was scanned at the commencement of data collection to confirm machine calibration.
This is most common during the first 3 months of treatment, and we thus decided only to include patients who had undergone baseline scans before initial treatment as well as follow-up scans more than 12 weeks after commencement of ADT, as suggested in the PCWG2 guidelines when evaluating BS after PCa treatment initiation [13].
Additional scans were performed before the commencement of CRT for patients receiving at least 4 weeks of lapatinib/placebo.
