Lutetium-177-PSMA-617

Bill91101

Apparently, the Phase 3 trial for lutetium-177-PSMA-617 had positive results.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-new-treatment-for-advanced-prostate-cancer-improves-survival-in-phase-3-clinical-trial-202107122543
From what I gather, lutetium is now a treatment for PCa as well as a contrast agent for use in its detection.

VascodaGama

Could Lu177 substitute chemotherapy?

Hi Bill,

Lu177-PSMA treatment has been in action since 2016 in some clinics in Germany and Australia. I am not aware of patients that managed to eliminate the bandit for good. However, several patients with wide spread metastases have benefited from the therapy shrinking the number of existing lesions to a fewer number that could be treated later with spot radiation.

In the USA, several places have been conducting clinical trials for the past three years but patients had to payfor the stuff.  Typically Lu177-PSMA is administered in only four shots (8 weeks apart) under strict vigilance as it could cause liver and/or kidney failure. Recently, there have been trials to test newer PSMA isotopes healthier to substitute the PSMA-617 that seems to be behind the cause of the accumulation of the radiopharmaceutical at those organs. I wonder if it is better than chemo in terms of the side effects. 

Overall the results are good in those where the PSMA is prevalent (sticks well to cancerous cells), showing drastic declines on PSA levels and lesser number of detected positive spots in PET scans, from the initial data pretreatment. 

Here is an earlier link on the subject;

https://www.oncotarget.com/article/7245/

Thanks for providing the article. 

Best

VG

 

 

Hemlock

waiting for Lutetium-177-PSMA-617

Has anybody found a clinic/institue that  has stated they will be administering Lutetium?

I am mCRPC (Stage 4b). I have exhaused the basic chemo drugs (docetaxel -> abriraterone -> cabizitaxel). I am stalling on radium-223, because I like having bone marrow. Now, I am just waiting to die. Perhaps that is more drama than reality, but I haven't been offered Lutetium (waiting FDA approval). My institute is not offering ANY assurances they will be offering it anytime soon.

It has been a great 2.5 years on chemo, btw. Rad sucked. docetaxel sucked. Cancer still sucks. Otherwise, life has been good.

 

VascodaGama

Clinical trial

You may try contacting these two places involved in the clinical trial of 177Lu PSMA and get information on  enrollment;

Tulane Cancer Center Clinic
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 70112
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, New York, United States, 10021

 

https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03042468

Hopefully you manage to find a clinic that accepts you. 

Best wishes, 

VG 

Old Salt

Another clinical trial conducted by Novartis

In addition to the Managed Access Program (see my post below),

I found the following clinical trial: NCT04689828 (phase 3) for castrate resistant patients.

177Lu-PSMA-617 vs. Androgen Receptor-directed Therapy in the Treatment of Progressive Metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites are in New Orleans, Boston, Omaha and Seattle (all seem to be recruiting).

Old Salt

Managed Access Programs

There are some institutions (in the USA) that have just 'opened up' with respect to Lu177 therapies (prior to FDA approval)

Johns Hopkins (Kimmel Institute) is one of them:

Search Results (hopkinsmedicine.org)

A similar program may exist at UCLA.

I searched a bit further; here is a link to the program:

177Lu-PSMA-617 Managed Access Program for mCRPC Patients - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

You can also contact Novartis directly to find out which other sites in the USA offer this therapy.