Dr. Sartor on Sequential Use of Beta and Alpha Emitters in mCRPC

A. Oliver Sartor, MD, professor of medicine, medical director, Tulane Cancer Center, and C. E. and Bernadine Laborde Professor of Cancer Research, Departments of Medicine and Urology, Tulane University, discusses the rationale for investigating the sequential use of beta emitters and alpha emitters in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Beta emitters such as samarium-153 and strontium-89 have been used in mCRPC for years, says Sartor.

Novel beta emitters including lutetium-177 PSMA-617 (¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617) have demonstrated promising efficacy in this setting, explains Sartor. Additionally, the phase 3 VISION trial, which is evaluating ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 plus standard of care compared with standard of care alone in mCRPC, recently completed accrual.

Notably, the majority of trials investigating ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 have excluded patients who received a prior radiopharmaceutical, says Sartor.

As such, evaluating the sequential use of the beta emitter ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 and the alpha emitter radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) may have utility in mCRPC, concludes Sartor.