Alan H. Bryce, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses the use of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals in prostate cancer.

A study with lutetium-177, which is attached to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), has recently completed accrual, says Bryce. In prostate cancer, PSMA receptors are overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells. As such, when lutetium-177 is combined with PSMA, the radioactive isotope is easily delivered to malignant cells. Unlike radium-223, PSMA-targeting is delivered equally in bone, soft tissue, and other locations of metastasis within the body, explains Bryce. Once the PSMA delivers the radiation to the prostate cancer cell, the lutetium radiation decays around the cancer cell.

The treatment strategy was originally developed in Germany and then was tested in Australia, says Bryce. Encouraging signals of activity were reported in preliminary single-arm studies. As such, Bryce is hopeful that the phase III study could show similar findings.