Ridley-Tree’s Nuclear Medicine Department is now
using a radioactive agent called PYLARIFY® (F18-PSMA)
to provide more accurate and earlier detection of prostate
cancer than our previous imaging methods. This diagnostic
tracer, approved by the FDA in May 2021, helps physicians
in two scenarios: 1) when a patient is newly diagnosed
and the physicians want maximum information about the
prostate cancer’s location before treatment, and 2) when a
patient who was previously treated for prostate cancer has
a blood test that suggests cancer has returned.
“Conventional imaging is limited in terms of its ability
to find prostate cancer in the initial staging, and when
determining if the disease has recurred or spread,” explains
William Pace, MD, Nuclear Medicine Physician. “PYLARIFY®
provides us with exceptional clarity and precision that can
find and track the spread of prostate cancer much earlier,
giving our patients
better information when
deciding on a treatment
plan with their doctor.”
F18-PSMA / PET-CT
imaging has greatly
advanced how urologists
and oncologists can
view prostate cancer
metastases and how
they stage the disease. In
patients with an elevated
prostate specific antigen
(PSA), Pylarify® was able
to detect the location of
the recurrent disease in
nearly 2 out of 3 patients,
when the disease was undetectable by prior imaging methods.
In addition to the advances in diagnostic imaging, RidleyTree Cancer Center recently opened a clinical trial utilizing
lutetium therapy in the treatment of patients with newlydiagnosed metastatic prostate cancer. This process involves
injecting a radioactive molecule (lutetium) into the vein,
allowing a high dose of radiation to be delivered straight
to cancer cells in any location within the body. This therapy,
available in Germany for many years, improved outcomes
in patients who received but progressed on chemotherapy.
“The medical oncologists and the nuclear medicine
physicians at Ridley-Tree hope to bring this treatment
to patients earlier in their course of therapy, even before
receiving chemotherapy,” remarks Gregg Newman, MD,
Medical Oncologist.
To learn more about PYLARIFY® or clinical trials, speak
with your Ridley-Tree physician or call (805) 879-0670.
Click here to read more from our Winter edition of OnCenter Magazine.