Radiopharmaceutical may benefit patients with metastatic prostate cancer sooner

New targeted therapy offers hope for metastatic prostate cancer patients, according to a Phase III clinical trial led by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and other institutions. The study, published in The Lancet, found that the drug 177Lu-PSMA-617, when added to the standard backbone therapy of an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor and androgen deprivation therapy, significantly delays disease progression and death in patients with PSMA-positive metastatic prostate cancer.

The findings may change the standard of care for this type of cancer, as the drug can be administered soon after diagnosis, rather than waiting for the development of resistance to the backbone therapies. The trial, which enrolled over 1,100 patients from 169 sites in 20 countries, showed that the addition of 177Lu-PSMA-617 to the standard therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 28%.

While the drug did increase the number of adverse events, such as dry mouth and fatigue, it also allowed patients to delay the need for a new therapy and the symptoms of cancer spread to the skeleton. The success of the drug is attributed to its ability to target the PSMA protein on the surface of prostate cancer cells, which was discovered at MSK and its first therapeutics were developed at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The drug is currently approved for use in patients with treatment-resistant metastatic prostate cancer, but the trial data suggest it may be beneficial for patients at diagnosis. The research team is continuing to analyze the data to assess long-term outcomes, such as overall survival and potential safety concerns with longer-term use.