Dr. Morris Discusses PSMA-Targeted Imaging in mCRPC

Michael J. Morris, MD, medical oncologist, clinical director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Service, Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the use of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted imaging in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

In prostate cancer, PSMA is being investigated as both a therapeutic target and an imaging target. PSMA-PET imaging is changing practice around the world, Morris says, and there are some new PSMA-directed radiotherapeutics moving into the United States that have shown efficacy in Europe. The use of PSMA-PET imaging and PSMA-directed radiotherapeutics is dependent on the accuracy of identifying a patient who has PSMA-presenting disease, he adds.

Morris emphasizes that is important to understand the performance characteristics of liquid biopsies with circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and imaging in the detection of PSMA-expressing disease. PSMA-PET imaging and CTCs must first be verified as biomarkers for selection of this population before PSMA-directed radiotherapeutics can be used. The ability of these biomarkers to detect the true disease heterogeneity of PSMA-expressing disease is of the upmost importance if they are going to be accepted and used to inform the diagnosis and treatment of these patients, Morris says.