EUSA Pharma's PROSTASCINT effective in guiding targeted prostate cancer treatment

EUSA Pharma announced that PROSTASCINT® (capromab pendetide) fusion imaging was shown to effectively guide prostate cancer therapy targeting and dosing and is a significant predictor of disease free survival, according to data presented on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at the 51st American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

An abstract entitled "Long-term outcomes following IGRT for localized prostate cancer: dose escalation to SPECT/CT determined biologic target volumes and the bDFS predictive value of capromab pendetide" was presented during podium session at ASTRO's annual meeting. The abstract describes a 10-year patient outcomes research project conducted by Dr. Rodney Ellis and colleagues (Case Western Reserve University and Aultman Hospital ). This research focused on the use of PROSTASCINT® (capromab pendetide), a monoclonal antibody, linked to the radioisotope Indium-111 that specifically targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), and is used in the evaluation of patients at risk for metastatic prostate cancer. The PROSTASCINT images were co-registered or fused with CT image sets (SPECT/CT). Areas demonstrating increased PROSTASCINT concentration on these fused image sets defined biologic target volumes which were used to guide dose escalation to 150% of the prescribed prostate glandular dose. Patients received additional permanent radioactive seeds in those areas. Biochemical disease free survival (bDFS) was also evaluated based on risk group status and on the presence or absence of lymph node metastases found on the PROSTASCINT image sets at baseline.

Fusion imaging is an in vivo diagnostic technique that combines anatomic and functional information to provide information that cannot be obtained with separate imaging modalities alone. Image fusion can combine computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) with radionuclide imaging using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to image an agent such as PROSTASCINT.

When PROSTASCINT was first introduced to the market, image fusion was not commonly used in aiding scan results. However, newer fusion imaging techniques, combined with treatment planning, allow the physician to target higher doses of radiation to specific areas within the prostate containing prostate cancer cells -- while keeping radiation levels to important structures such as the urethra within acceptable limits.