Abstract
Prostate cancer is a bone-metastatic disease but until recently bone-targeted therapies had never demonstrated improvements in survival. Prior radiopharmaceuticals have demonstrated palliative responses in bone-metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) but no survival benefit. Radium-223 is a novel bone-seeking radionuclide that is predominately an alpha-emitter. It releases a total of four alpha particles with a half-life of approximately 11 days. Radium targets to bone as a calcium-mimetic and binds to the inorganic matrix of newly formed bone, which is typically found in osteoblastic metastases. A phase 3 trial demonstrated an improvement in overall survival in bone metastatic CRPC in patients without visceral disease. Radium-223 was given for six doses using monthly intravenous injections. The drug was well tolerated with minimal myelosuppression. Radium-223 has now been approved for use by multiple regulatory authorities around the globe.
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Sartor, O., Lewis, B. (2014). Radium-223 and Other Radiopharmaceuticals in Prostate Cancer. In: Saad, F., Eisenberger, M. (eds) Management of Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer. Current Clinical Urology. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1176-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1176-9_11
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