August 2021

UROLOGY

PSMA-TARGETED PET IMAGING FOR PROSTATE CANCER

Featuring: Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, Ashley E. Ross, MD, PhD, and Hatice Savas, MD

Episode Summary

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is proud to be the first site in Chicagoland to perform prostate imaging studies using the positron emission tomography (PET) agent Pylarify® (piflufolastat F-18). Recently approved by the FDA, this radiotracer is a small molecule that targets the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). It has been shown to enhance the detection of prostate cancer by enabling visualization of suspected metastasis in lymph nodes, bone and soft tissue. This allows for precision in initial staging and treatment decisions, and detection of suspected recurrence when serum PSA is elevated.
 
Edward M. Schaeffer, MD, PhD, chair of Urology, Edmund Andrews Professor of Urology and director of the Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute, can predict the benefit of using Pylarify® with newly diagnosed patients or those with cancer recurrence. "This will be a valuable tool in the evaluation of prostate cancer, particularly with respect to surgical and radiation planning," he says. Dr. Schaeffer is the principal investigator of a clinical trial that is using the agent for staging newly diagnosed prostate cancer with PET magnetic resonance (PET-MR).
 
Hatice Savas, MD, assistant professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Northwestern Medicine, is a co-investigator on the trial with Dr. Schaeffer. "This new and innovative prostate cancer imaging agent combines the high image quality of PET with the precision of targeting the prostate cancer-specific marker PSMA," says Dr. Savas. "We are also proud to offer PSMA-targeted PET imaging using the new hybrid technologies PET-MR and state-of-the-art digital PET-CT scanners."
 
In addition to now offering Pylarify® to patients, Northwestern Medicine continues to investigate new ways to target and treat prostate cancer. For example, we participated in the Phase 3 study evaluating the use of Lu-PSMA-617 for treatment of patients with progressive, PSMA-positive, metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (VISION trial). With FDA approval of the diagnostic agent, the Departments of Urology and Radiology have not only an advanced tool for diagnosis, but also a method to identify novel targeted treatments for patients.
 
In this Better Edge podcast, Dr. Schaeffer, Dr. Savas, and Ashley E. Ross, MD, PhD, associate professor of Urology at Northwestern Medicine, discuss this breakthrough diagnostic tool and what it means for the field.

Refer a Patient

Northwestern Medicine welcomes the opportunity to partner with you in caring for your patients. ​

You May Also Like