#2 - Cleveland Clinic Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2022

PSMA-Targeted Therapy in Prostate Cancer: When detected early by PSMA PET scans, recurrent prostate cancer can be treated through a targeted approach with stereotactic body radiation therapy, surgery and/or systemic therapy.

Each year, more than 200,000 American men receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer – making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States. Accurate imaging is critical for tumor localization, staging the disease and detecting recurrences. PSMA, an antigen found in high levels on the surface of prostate cancer cells, is a potential biomarker for the disease. PMSA PET scans use a radioactive tracer to attach to PSMA proteins, which are then combined with CT or MRI scans to visualize the location of prostate cancer cells. In 2020, this technology received FDA approval based on phase III clinical trials, which showed substantially increased accuracy for detecting prostate cancer metastasis compared to conventional imaging with bone and CT scans. When detected early by PSMA PET scans, recurrent prostate cancer can be treated through a targeted approach with stereotactic body radiation therapy, surgery and/or systemic therapy in a personalized manner.