NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian welcomed last week’s announcement by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration that the FDA approved the first prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer. The agent, lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto), delivers radiation directly to prostate cancer cells and has been shown to prolong survival and reduce complications in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Hoag’s Molecular Imaging & Therapy program was the first in Orange County to offer PSMA-targeted radiotherapy to patients with metastatic prostate cancer in clinical trials and now offers access to this newly FDA-approved therapy to patients.
Pluvicto brings cell-killing radiation to tumors by targeting PSMA, a molecule on the surface of prostate cancer cells. The FDA’s approval ushers in a new era of PSMA diagnostics and therapies that could hold significant promise to thousands of men facing metastatic prostate cancer, said Gary A. Ulaner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.N.M, James & Pamela Muzzy Endowed Chair in Molecular Imaging and Therapy and the director of Molecular Imaging and Therapy for the Hoag Family Cancer Institute.