Pluvicto
This is the first drug targeted to the tumor that actually results in overall survival benefit among incredibly, heavily pretreated patients - Oliver Sartor MD
HWN Suggests
New Therapy for Aggressive Prostate Cancer Improves Survival
“This is something new — you’re driving radiation right to the cancer itself,” said Karen Knudsen, president and chief executive of the American Cancer Society. “It’s a much more sophisticated strategy for targeting the tumor.” “You’re not just destroying the cancer cells — you’re smart-bombing the place that the tumor has found for itself to live.” There is no definitive cure for metastatic prostate cancer, and there is an urgent need for new therapies, Dr. Knudsen said. Most life-extending treatments rely on suppressing or blocking androgens, the male hormones that fuel prostate cancer. “This opens the door to precision radiotherapy targeted at other molecules that are on the surface of other…Featured
Pluvicto nearing first-line therapy for prostate cancer
Lutetium-177 prostate-specific membrane antigen-617 (Lu-177 PSMA-617; Pluvicto, Novartis) appears to be on track as a first-line therapy for men with advanced prostate cancer.
Articles of Interest
Dilbert creator taps Trump to get cancer drug. Others wish they could, too
"Our health system shouldn't be one where we need the intervention of the president or the HHS secretary to weigh in on behalf of a high-profile political backer," said Anthony Wright, the executive director of Families USA, a health care advocacy organization. Wright added that he is gratified Adams got the help he needed and said it should be available to all.
FDA Approves Pluvicto for Earlier Use in PSMA-Positive Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
The radioligand therapeutic agent was previously approved for the treatment of PSMA-positive mCRPC in patients who have already received ARPI therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy. Approval for the expanded indication was based on efficacy demonstrated in the randomized, open-label, phase 3 PSMAfore trial.
From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Pluvicto is Changing Metastatic Prostate Cancer Care
PLUVICTO is designed to find and attack PSMA+ cells. PSMA is found on many prostate cancer cells and also some healthy cells. It may also affect some nearby healthy cells. It works by seeking out prostate cancer cells that have PSMA biomarkers, which are present in over 80% of people with mCRPC, allowing radiation to be delivered wherever the cancer is in the body. For many, it’s an opportunity to delay chemotherapy after their cancer is no longer responsive to hormone therapy.
How effective is Pluvicto in a ‘real-world’ setting?
Pluvicto (lutetium-177 [Lu-177] prostate-specific membrane antigen [PSMA]-617) appears to perform as effectively in prostate cancer patients in “real-world” settings as it did in clinical trials prior to its approval, according to clinicians at the Johns Hopkins Theranostics Center in Baltimore, MD.
New treatment approved for late-stage prostate cancer
To confirm whether a man is eligible for the drug, doctors first inject a radioactive tracer that travels the bloodstream looking for and then sticking to PSMA proteins. Cancer cells flagged by the tracer will show up on a specialized scanning technology called positron-emission tomography. About 80% of prostate cancer patients have PSMA-positive tumors; for those who do not, the treatment is ineffective.
Theranostics in Action: The Science Behind Pluvicto
I like to think of it as a homing signal or homing missile. The lutetium is tagged to PSMA, which seeks out cells that overexpress PSMA, similar to what we visualize on the PET scan. It then attacks those cells directly. Although PSMA can be found in some non-prostate tissues, such as salivary glands, it is highly overexpressed in prostate cancer.
What is Pluvicto? 5 Things to Know About This Prostate Cancer Drug
Pluvicto works like a heat-seeking missile, targeting PSMA protein on cancer cells. PSMA stands for prostate-specific membrane antigen. PSMA is on the surface of some cancer cells. A patient who has these cells has PSMA-positive prostate cancer. PSMA-positive cancer cells can be in other areas of the body where prostate cancer has spread, including bones, the liver or lungs. Pluvicto binds itself to the PSMA protein in the cancer cells and is absorbed into them. Once inside the cell, it then releases radiation. This damages or kills these cancerous cells with limited damage to the surrounding good cells.
