A New Hope for Prostate Cancer Treatment

Men diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer may have a promising future thanks to: LuPSMA (Lutetium-177-PSMA-617)

A new study indicates that men who have metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (cancer that has spread all over the body and is unable to be treated with regular medications) may respond to treatment called LuPSMA, a systemic injection.

What makes LuPSMA different?

About 80% of men with advanced prostate cancer will have high levels of PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) which is a protein located in prostate cells. Prostate cancer cells contain high levels of PSMA. LuPSMA is the first drug to target cells that contain high levels of PSMA and does so through two ways, first targeting cells that contain high PSMA and then killing those cells.

This is a very promising discovery to men’s health since results from a phase 3 clinical trial called the VISION study showed that men diagnosed with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who were treated with LuPSMA had a better overall survival and decreased cancer progression compared to men diagnosed with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who were receiving just the standard treatment therapy.

LuPSMA is still awaiting for approval from the FDA and whether it is approved or not will most likely be determined by the end of 2021. There has yet to be a lot of research done on LuPSMA, and if approved, LuPSMA will be the first PSMA-targeted drug for prostate cancer.

Written by:

Puja Patel

PharmD Candidate, Class of 2023

Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences