Article: 'Major Milestone' in mCRPC: Radiopharmaceutical Boosts Survival

[GregHouston]

A novel radiopharmaceutical has been shown to boost survival when added to standard treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) whose disease had progressed after chemotherapy and the use of androgen inhibitors.

The agent, lutetium-labeled PSMA-617 (177Lu PSMA-617), which is under development by Endocyte/Novartis, delivers high doses of beta radiation to prostate cancer cells.

It achieves this by binding to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is highly expressed on the surface of prostate cancer across the disease spectrum and across disease sites. Expression on normal tissue is limited.

The new results come from the VISION phase 3 open-label trial and are planned to be used in applications for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of this new agent in this indication.

"These findings warrant adoption of 177Lu PSMA-617 as a new treatment option in this patient population," said lead researcher Michael J. Morris, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.

"There are ongoing studies in patients with prostate cancer at earlier phases of the disease using this agent," he said.

The new results will be presented on June 6 at the plenary session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, but some details were released early at a premeeting press briefing.

Results From Earlier Phase 2 Trial

Earlier results with the novel radiopharmaceutical from a phase 2 trial known as TheraP were published in February 2021 in The Lancet. These results showed that 177Lu PSMA-617 was more active than cabazitaxel against mCRPC and led to fewer grade 3–4 adverse events.

As reported by Medscape Medical News at the time, 66% of men given 177Lu PSMA-617 achieved a 50% reduction in prostate-specific antigen levels (PSA50) from baseline, vs 37% of those treated with cabazitaxel.

Read more here> medscape.com/viewarticle/95...

[greatjohn]

yeah! I'm all scheduled for my second Lu 177 on June 22.gJohn

[treedown in reply to greatjohn]

Any updates or do you get new scans prior to the second shot? Infusion?

[greatjohn in reply to treedown]

I'm having scans on the 21st and injection(infusion) on the 22nd.my big problem has been my platelets and white blood cells and hemoglobin are all low. I had a couple of blood transfusions this week.

J.

[treedown in reply to greatjohn]

Thas seems to be the problems/results with a lot of treatments. I hope it gets worked out for you.

[Spyder54]

Greg Thanks. John Thanks. We have several men on this site that went over seas for LU-177, and now some, like Great John, that are in trials here in the US.. Sounds like FDA appvl is coming. How it is labeled is key because it could be used upfront w less side effects than Cabazitaxel, or only for end stage, when all else fails. It would be great if those men (other than Great John-thank you GJ) could share their experience/outcome for all of us.

Mike

St Pete

[Nukepharmd]

Lu-177 is a beta emitter which means the radiation will affect all tissues it touches within 2.5 cm (1 in.) So some viable tissue will be affected especially with multiple mets. The half life is 6.7 days so in order to clear it from your system will take 10 half lives or ~60 days. Xofigo is a alpha emitter that just touches the immediate tissue to compare. I would expect s/e with lu-177.

[Spyder54]

We have guys on this site that went to Germany, Austria, India for LU-177, and they can fill us in. Like most of us Im hoping for longer term results with few side effects (SE).