Data from the multicentre trial “PROfound”, presented at the ESMO Congress 2019, show that “Olaparib” (poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor) delayed cancer progression by about four months and prolonged overall survival by over three months, compared to the latest forms of hormonal treatment (enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate) in patients with pre-treated metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) whose cancer cells had faulty DNA repair genes (one group with BRCA1, BRCA2 and ATM mutations and a second group with a broader range of less well studied faulty DNA repair genes).

Another multicentre phase 1 trial, “LuPARP”, is underway, testing the hypothesis that the  combination therapy of 177-Lu-PSMA with Olaparib versus treatment with the newest forms of hormonal treatment (abiraterone and/or enzalutamide and/or apalutamide) in patients with mCRPC might give better results than the already published beneficial effect of 177-Lu-PSMA treatment alone.
It make sense that causing DNA damage with radiation (using 177-Lu-PSMA as the radiation source) together with Olaparib, that prevents proper DNA repair, would inflict greater cancer cells death and probably more so in patients whose cancer cells have faulty DNA repair genes, in concordance with the results of the “PROfound” study.

As we already know, prostate cancer is not one, but many different diseases and we need to identify the different groups of patients and treating them with the appropriate targeted therapy.

ISOTOPIA MOLECULAR IMAGING believes in thinking creatively and courageously, and is always willing to participate in Radio-Ligand Therapy (RLT) research that will impact healthcare in communities at home and around the world.