(Press-News.org) Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a surface protein that is normally present on healthy prostate cells, but is found at much higher levels on prostate cancer cells. It is barely found in the rest of the body. "Therefore, PSMA is an ideal target for diagnostic purposes as well as targeted therapies against prostate cancer," says biotechnologist Dr. Matthias Eder of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ).
Eder's group has developed a small molecule (PSMA-617) that is capable of specifically attaching to PSMA and can be labeled with various radioactive substances, called radionuclides.
When chemically bound to gallium-68, a weakly radioactive diagnostic radionuclide, PSMA-617 can be used to visualize even the smallest assemblies of prostate cancer cells in PET (positron emission tomography) scans. "In this way, physicians are able to detect small secondary tumors in other organs or closely monitor response to therapy. Diagnostic approaches that have been used in the clinic so far have not come close to this sensitivity," says Eder.
Alternatively, the researchers can also bind a therapeutic radionuclide called lutetium-177 to PSMA-617. This radiopharmaceutical is taken up by tumor cells that carry the PSMA target molecule and then destroys these cells from the inside. This might be a promising treatment option, particularly in cases of hormone-resistant prostate carcinoma, which is very difficult to treat.
At Heidelberg University Hospital, a team led by nuclear medicine specialist Prof. Dr. Uwe Haberkorn has already used radioactively labeled PSMA-617 to treat individual patients with advanced prostate cancer. The physicians made use of the therapeutic nuclides lutetium-177 and actinium-225. After treatment with the lutetium-labeled radiopharmaceutical, levels of the prostate cancer marker PSA fell sharply in 70 percent of cases; after treatment with the actinium-labeled radiopharmaceutical, this effect was observed in all patients.
In addition, PET/CT images confirmed that metastases had shrunk or were no longer detectable. "The results were so promising that we plan to go ahead with a clinical trial as soon as possible to examine whether PSMA-617 is superior to other therapy methods," says Haberkorn.
"Other agents that target PSMA and can be coupled with strong or weak radiation emitters are already being developed," explains Prof. Dr. Klaus Kopka, a chemist and departmental head at the DKFZ. "However, only a few of these agents have turned out to be ideal. Most of them are too unstable, accumulate insufficiently in cancer cells and wash out too slowly from healthy organs. By contrast, PSMA-617 accumulates in large quantities in tumors and metastases and is stored well in cancer cells. As a result, prostate cancer can be irradiated from the inside, so to speak."
INFORMATION:
Matthias Eder, radiochemist Martina Benešová, Klaus Kopka, Uwe Haberkorn and their co-workers have now received the Image of the Year Award and the Berson-Yalow Award at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) in Baltimore, USA for their development of PSMA-617.
Martina Benešová, Martin Schäfer, Ulrike Bauder-Wüst, Ali Afshar-Oromieh, Clemens Kratochwil, Walter Mier, Uwe Haberkorn, Klaus Kopka, and Matthias Eder: Preclinical Evaluation of a Tailor-Made DOTA-Conjugated PSMA Inhibitor with Optimized Linker Moiety for Imaging and Endoradiotherapy of Prostate Cancer. J Nucl Med 2015; DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.114.147413
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New research conducted by a team at King's College London has found an increasing trend in the number of people in the UK reaching age 100 over the past two decades. The study also found that, whilst women were far more likely to reach 100 than men, males tended to be healthier and had fewer diagnosed chronic illnesses compared to women.
The study, published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, used electronic health records to examine some of the main age-related chronic illnesses, including diabetes, stroke, arthritis and cancer, as well as old ...
A large clinical trial led by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa has found that contrary to expectations, a CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis does not improve cancer detection in people with unexplained blood clots in their legs and lungs. The results, published in the June 22 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, are expected to improve patient care and reduce screening costs around the world.
More than 500,000 Canadians and Americans are diagnosed with blood clots in the lungs and legs each year (called venous thromboembolism). ...
Through a rare mixed-species association observed between a carnivorous predator and a potential prey, Dartmouth-led research has identified that solitary Ethiopian wolves will forage for rodents among grazing gelada monkey herds. Through consistent non-threatening behavior, the Ethiopian wolves have habituated gelada herds to their presence, foregoing opportunities to attack the juvenile geladas in order to better capture the rodents.
Gelada monkeys are a close relative of baboons. As grazing primates, they eat grass and some herbs. They live in large herds, between ...
Nanoparticles are the smallest particles capable of reaching virtually all parts of the body. Researchers use various approaches to test ways in which nanoparticles could be used in medicine - for instance, to deliver substances to a specific site in the body such as a tumor. For this purpose, nanoparticles are generally coated with organic materials because their surface quality plays a key role in determining further targets in the body. If they have a water-repellent shell, nanoparticles are quickly identified by the body's immune system and eliminated.
How gold particles ...
Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have demonstrated, in a preclinical setting, the protective effect of a candidate vaccine directed against the coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Planning for the first clinical trial is now underway.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS--The "Black Lives Matter" hashtag evolved as a call for social change aimed at increasing the conversation about racial inequality. But what if social change was less dependent on talking and more dependent on nonverbal communication?
New research finds observing a white American engage in small nonverbal acts such as smiling more often, making eye contact for longer periods of time, and standing in closer proximity to a black American makes the observer less prone to racial biases. Specifically, small acts ...
(PHILADELPHIA) - Recently, researchers have discovered that the hormone progesterone, an ingredient in contraceptives and menopausal hormone replacement therapies, might stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells that are resistant to anti-estrogen therapy and chemotherapy. Now, new research published June 22nd in the journal Oncogene, a Nature publication, shows that additional hormones, including stress hormones that are frequently used to treat the side effects of common chemotherapy, could make these effective cancer drugs fail sooner in some women with breast cancer. ...
Milan, Italy, June 22 -- Cardiac device wearers should keep a safe distance from smartphones to avoid unwanted painful shocks or pauses in function, reveals research presented today at EHRA EUROPACE -- CARDIOSTIM 2015 by Dr. Carsten Lennerz, first author and cardiology resident in the Clinic for Heart and Circulatory Diseases, German Heart Centre, Munich, Germany.
The joint meeting of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and Cardiostim is being held in Milan, Italy. The scientific programme is here:
http://www.flipsnack.com/Escardio/ehra-europace-cardiostim-2015-advance-programme.html.
Lennerz ...
Milan, Italy - 22 June 2015: Patients are test driving a pacemaker outside the skin before deciding whether to have a permanent implant, reveals novel research presented today at EHRA EUROPACE - CARDIOSTIM 2015 by Professor Michael Giudici, director of arrhythmia services in the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, US.1
"Wow, I didn't realise how terrible I felt. This is great. When can we schedule my pacemaker?"
The joint meeting of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) ...
US researchers have published the first large population-based study of nationwide trends in erectile dysfunction and its surgical management from 2001 to 2010.
Using data from Medicare beneficiaries, the investigators found that while the prevalence of erectile dysfunction increased by 165%, the use of penile prostheses decreased by 50%, from 4.6% in 2001 to 2.3% in 2010. Prostheses have been increasingly used in sicker patients with significant comorbidities, however.
Age, ethnicity, and geography often influenced whether patients would undergo penile prosthetic placement.
"The ...
