Key Takeaways:

• The Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion utilizes advanced imaging called PSMA PET scan for some prostate cancer patients
• PSMA stands for Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen, a protein that lives on the surface of prostate cells
• A PSMA PET can uses a radioactivity antibody to detect where PSMA may amass in the body
• PSMA PET scans are available to qualified LCRP patients in Savannah and Bluffton

The Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion offers this advancing imaging test in Savannah and Bluffton 

If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer or there’s a concern of recurrence, your healthcare team may recommend an advanced imaging test to find cancer cells that have spread outside the prostate.

It’s called a PSMA PET scan, and it’s available for prostate cancer patients at the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion in Savannah and Bluffton.

What is PSMA?

PSMA stands for Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen. It is a protein, or antigen, that lives on the surface of most prostate cancer cells, explains Dr. John Pablo, radiation oncologist and medical director of the LCRP Radiation Oncology Center.

These proteins tend to form in high concentrations. That makes them a good target for markers of prostate cancer cells that may have metastasized, or grown, outside of the prostate.

What is a PSMA PET scan?

In order to detect where PSMA may be in the body, a PET scan using a radioactive tracer antibody is needed. Don’t be alarmed. This is a safe imaging test and has been around for years, Dr. Pablo says.

It starts with an IV infusion of the antibodies that then concentrate on areas where PSMA may be present. Next, a PET scan, which stands for positron emission tomography, shows any radioactivity of where antibodies attached to PSMA cancer cells.

Radiation oncologist can use this image to plan a patient’s radiation therapy for more precise treatment.

“We are able to find cancer cells that have escaped from the prostate into little lymph glands or other areas with PSMA PET,” says Dr. Pablo. “It helps to target our radiation to those cells. We can also see where the cancer has amassed on the PET scan if we need to change our doses and maybe give a little higher dose.”

Related Article: You’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Now what? 

Who would need a PSMA PET?

Prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease that begins when cells in the prostate gland start to grow out of control. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. 

While prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men (only behind lung cancer), most men diagnosed with the disease do not die from it. That’s mostly due to earlier detection and advancements in treatment, PSMA PET scan for example.

Related Article: Prostate Cancer Awareness: Men, now is the time to get screened. 

Not all men diagnosed with prostate cancer will need a PSMA PET. Three categories that men may fall under that a PSMA PET would be recommended are:

1. Your healthcare team knows through other imaging and tests that the cancer has already spread outside of the prostate.
2. You’ve been treated for prostate cancer before, and your PSA, or Prostate-Specific Antigen, levels are rising, which may indicate the cancer might come back or has returned.
3. You fall into a high-risk or unfavorable immediate risk category based on a post-diagnosis screening algorithm that can indicate the cancer has metastasized.

One thing all prostate cancer patients that are treated at the LCRP can count on is they will have a say in their course of treatment.

“Cancer care is very personalized, and the patient actually is a decision maker in that process,” Dr. Pablo says. “Usually for most men with prostate cancer, they have multiple options in the treatment process, and our practice is to inform them of those options and let them decide what they want to do.”

Have questions? Contact a cancer expert today. 

Getting the support you need

The Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion hosts a Prostate Cancer Support Group every other month. You can join other patients, survivors and caregivers for discussion and answers to any questions you have.

The next meeting at the time of this posting is Sept. 9, 2026. The meetings are held in the second-floor conference room at the LCRP, 225 Candler Drive, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Jerry Thomas at savprc@gmail.com or 478-569-6118.