At the 2012 annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, researchers presented new results for the radioisotope therapy radium-223 chloride, suggesting that these results represent a new treatment protocol for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. This drug seeks out bone metastases with very potent alpha particles that are deadly to tumors. This drug has a short range of penetration, sparing healthy tissue and bone marrow. “This is a pivotal study of a new treatment that potentially offers a better standard of care for patients with advanced prostate cancer,” said Val Lewington, Professor of Clinical Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine at King’s College and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London. “Radium-223 offers a new approach to the treatment of bone metastases. It systematically treats multiple sites of disease simultaneously and is usually very well tolerated.” Society of Nuclear Medicine press release, June 11, 2012.
