Dr. Sartor on Radium-223 in Early Prostate Cancer

Oliver Sartor, MD, medical director, Tulane Cancer Center, discusses the focus of the phase III ALSYMPCA trial that examined radium-223 (Alpharadin), an experimental radiopharmaceutical for prostate cancer with bone metastases.

Patients enrolled to the trial had either received prior chemotherapy or were chemotherapy naïve. Approximately 43% of patients had not received prior chemotherapy.

The goal of the trial was to find a less toxic alternative to chemotherapy that could be introduced at earlier phases in the treatment process. The current standard treatment for low-risk prostate cancer is active surveillance.

Finding a treatment for early prostate cancer is currently an area of high importance and Sartor believes radium-223 could be effective in this space. However, more research is needed to confirm its efficacy.