Advancing a new treatment for aggressive prostate cancer
01 February 2024
Scan results showing the incredible power of LuPSMA
Peter Mac is a global leader in the emerging field of theranostics, which has provided an entirely new way to treat metastatic prostate cancer.
Clinical trials led by Peter Mac have shown this theranostic treatment, called ‘LuPSMA’, can extend life and improve quality of life in men with this aggressive disease.
Professor Michael Hofman is Director of the Prostate Theranostics and Imaging Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC) at Peter Mac.
He and his team are leading educational efforts in theranostics, with the ProsTIC Preceptorship conference to be held from 14-16 March, drawing more than 400 national and international nuclear medicine experts to Melbourne.
The inaugural ProsTic Preceptorship, held in 2022, attracted 420 delegates from 34 countries.
And this month more than 1000 international experts attended a ProsTIC webinar about PSMA research in the Asia-Pacific region, staged in collaboration with the US-based Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and International Cancer Imaging Society.
‘LuPSMA’ treatment is made by attaching a radioactive particle (lutetium-177) to a compound that binds to Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) found on the surface of prostate cancer cells.
“When this radioactive liquid is infused into a patient, it travels throughout the blood stream and attaches to and kills prostate cancer cells wherever they are found in the body,” Professor Hofman says.
“We can monitor this cancer-killing effect in close to real time, as PET scans before and after this treatment can show a dramatic reduction in detectable PSMA in the patient.”
This life-changing work has attracted major funding from international groups including PCF.