Calais receives $4 million for prostate cancer clinical trials

Pharmacology faculty Jeremie Calais, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Ahmanson Translational Theranostics Division’s clinical research program, was awarded two grants from Novartis totaling $4 million aimed at improving the effectiveness of the radiation-emitting targeted therapy 177-Lu-PSMA-617 for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), one of the most challenging forms of the disease.

The funding will help support two phase 2 clinical trials that will explore new strategies for utilizing 177Lu-PSMA-617. This therapy works by combining a radioactive isotope, lutetium-177 (177Lu), with a molecule that specifically targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein highly expressed on the surface of prostate cancer cells. It then precisely delivers radiation to cancer cells while minimizing harm to healthy tissues.

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