Dr. Oh on the Role of Radiopharmaceuticals in mCRPC

William K. Oh, MD, chief, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, professor of medicine and urology, Mount Sinai Hospital, and deputy director of the Tisch Cancer Institute, discusses the role of radiopharmaceuticals in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

In May 2013, the FDA approved radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) to treat men with symptomatic mCRPC that has bone infiltration but has not spread to other organs. The approval was based on a modest overall survival benefit and palliative benefit regarding bone pain, says Oh.

Another targeted radiopharmaceutical, lutetium-177 PSMA-617 (Lu-PSMA-617), has demonstrated high response rates for patients with PSMA-positive disease, says Oh. While the agent appears to elicit durable responses, additional research is needed to determine whether it will be associated with a survival benefit.

PSMA is widely expressed in relapsed/refractory mCRPC; therefore, it has the potential to be a tumor-specific target, explains Oh.

As such, Lu-PSMA-617 may be an effective method of delivering a radioactive payload to PSMA-expressing cancer cells, concludes Oh.