Jacob E. Berchuck, MD, assistant professor, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, discusses how a new epigenomic platform increases the accessibility of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-based therapies, particularly to patients. who may not have easy access to PSMA-PET scans.

According to Berchuck, this novel epigenetic liquid biopsy platform for determining tumor PSMA expression in patients with prostate cancer could eliminate the need for PSMA PET scans. These results were presented at the ESMO Congress 2024.

Transcription:

0:10 | We know that in certain communities there are areas where PSMA PET scans are not available. Since a PSMA PET scan is a requirement for receipt (177Lu-PSMA-617), this presents a major hurdle. I think this is particularly important because these communities are often an asset to underserved patients. From an access and equity perspective, we must do a better job of ensuring that patients have access to life-extending, FDA-approved therapies.

0:35 | What excites us is the possibility of using liquid biopsies. This includes collecting a single tube of peripheral blood from a patient, which can be collected at any clinic in the United States or around the world, and the ability to obtain the necessary diagnostic information to determine whether a person’s tumors express PSMA . The current ESMO abstract focuses on this specific question: Can we detect PSMA expression? We’ve shown that we’re able to do this with pretty good accuracy.

1:07 | But the next question we really want to answer is: Can we predict the results (177Lu-PSMA-617)? I think that a blood test accessible to all communities that indicates whether a patient is eligible and likely to benefit from this drug would be incredibly powerful.

REFERENCE

Ravi P, D’Ippolito A, Wurster JL, et al. Determination of tumor PSMA expression in prostate cancer from blood using a novel epigenetic liquid biopsy platform. Presented at: ESMO Congress 2024; 13th–17th September 2024; Barcelona, ​​Spain. Summary 1182P.