Advanced prostate cancer, paving the way for future therapy with radioligand

A targeted approach that combines nuclear medicine with the selectivity of a personalised therapy. This is what radioligand treatment proposes, which acts in an extremely targeted and precise manner, so that side effects and damage to healthy tissues adjacent to the tumour are very limited. In short, an example of personalised therapy that could become a reality for the treatment of the most complex cases of prostate cancer, according to the Phase III PsmAddition study on treatment with Lutetium [177Lu] vipivotide tetraxetan, presented at the Esmo (European society for medical oncology) congress in Berlin. At the moment, it must be said, we are still talking about information relating to an experimental clinical trial. In fact, the use of radioligand therapy in the treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer is not authorised in Italy.

La strategia è chiara. Il radiofarmaco riconosce selettivamente le cellule tumorali bersaglio e si lega alle stesse. Poi entra nelle cellule tumorali. Le radiazioni rilasciate danneggiano queste unità neoplastiche, risparmiando i tessuti sani. Nell’ambito del trattamento del tumore prostatico, con indicazioni specifiche, l’approccio “su misura” basato sulle caratteristiche biologiche della neoplasia. In particolare, in questo specifico studio, la terapia con radioligando, in combinazione con lo standard di cura (rappresentata da un inibitore della via del recettore degli androgeni + terapia di deprivazione androgenica) ha portato ad un miglioramento nella sopravvivenza libera da progressione radiografica, riducendo al contempo il rischio di progressione radiografica o morte del 28% rispetto al solo standard di cura nei pazienti adulti con carcinoma prostatico ormono-sensibile metastatico positivo all’antigene di membrana specifico della prostata (PsmA). Insomma. siamo di fronte ad un passo avanti

As mentioned, the research points to a possible future path to be explored and opens up important perspectives for an extremely widespread disease. This is confirmed by Giuseppe Procopio, director of the Prostate and Genitourinary Medical Oncology Programme at the Fondazione Irccs Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan: 'the data from the PsmAddition study are very promising: the combination of radioligand therapy with standard hormone therapy offers patients more time without disease progression, a favourable safety profile, and an encouraging trend in overall survival. It is essential to look to the future, because these results pave the way for a change in the clinical management of metastatic prostate cancer, offering new perspectives and hope to an increasingly wide range of patients'.