RBWH groundbreaking prostate cancer clinical trial

An Australia-first Phase-2 clinical trial of a new prostate cancer treatment is underway at RBWH, offering new hope to end-stage metastatic prostate cancer patients.

The Actinium-225 PSMA treatment directly targets the Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) receptor, which is found on the surface of prostate cancer cells.

RBWH Director of Nuclear Medicine, Professor David Pattison and Medical Oncology Principal Investigator, Adj. Professor Jeffrey Goh are leading the trial.

“The new therapy is alpha-emitting and can target the PSMA receptors to deliver a powerful blast of radiation to within a fraction of a millimetre of cells which have the receptor, leaving healthy cells untouched,” Professor Pattison said.

RBWH prostate cancer patient, Tom, was among the first to receive the treatment after undergoing different types of therapies, including chemotherapy, in the 10+ years since he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“I’ve participated in previous clinical trials and am pleased to again. The trials have allowed me to maintain my quality of life, while taking part in research that has the potential to help others,” Tom said.

For patients like Tom, the new treatment has minimal side effects compared with other therapies.

“While there is no cure for metastatic prostate cancer, this new therapy provides Tom and patients like him with new hope to further improve quality of life and life expectancy outcomes,” Prof Pattison said.

“Tom has had a number of additional therapies that would not have been available to him outside of clinical trials.

“These have already extended his life expectancy and improved his quality of life.”

The current trial is the latest in a series of clinical trials that have been offered to this patient cohort at RBWH.

More treatment-refractory metastatic prostate cancer patients will be added to the current clinical trial as they are referred to the Medical Oncology team at RBWH.

“Men who have already had most standard prostate cancer treatments and are referred to RBWH Medical Oncology by their specialist may be eligible to participate in the trial,” Adj. Professor Goh said.

“This trial represents a major step forward in the search for more effective, targeted treatments for advanced prostate cancer and highlights RBWH’s commitment to pioneering cutting-edge cancer diagnostics and therapies, as a Theranostic Centre of Excellence.”

Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers affecting Australian men, accounting for 28 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in males.