About 19 months ago we reported that a company called Progenics Pharmaceuticals had acquired all rights to a small, radiolabeled molecule known as [99mTc]MIP-1404, and that an international, multi-center Phase II trial was investigating the clinical activity of [99mTc]MIP-1404 as a prostate cancer imaging agent.
A report on the ScienceDaily web site has now provided further information about the development of [99mTc]MIP-1404, which seems to be able to act as a superior imaging agent when compared to traditional bone scans.
Data from a Phase I trial, published by Vallabhajosula et al., indicate that [99mTc]MIP-1404
may be more sensitive to detecting skeletal or marrow invasion earlier than bone scans.
and the authors state that
We also demonstrated that [99mTc]MIP-1404 has favorable pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, which represents a breakthrough in imaging of prostate cancer for the following reasons: [99mTc]MIP-1404 can image prostate cancer in lymph nodes, soft tissue and bone.
Data from the above-mentioned Phase II trial of [99mTc]MIP-1404 were also, most recently, presented at 27th annual meeting of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine, in Gothenburg, Sweden. This trial included about 100 men with high-risk prostate cancer, all of whom were scheduled for radical prostatectomy.
According to a media release issued by Progenics immediately following presentation of these data on October 20:
- SPECT/CT imaging with [99mTc]MIP-1404
- Had a 94 percent sensitivity level in detecting and imaging cancer in the prostate gland of high-risk patients prior to prostatectomy
- Was more sensitive than MRI in detecting primary prostate cancer (94 vs. 86 percent)
- Was a good predictor of lymph node involvement at prostatectomy.
- Identified 14 more patients with suspicious lymph node sites than MRI (a 19 percent better identification rate).
- Uptake of [99mTc]MIP-1404 in the lobes of the prostate gland was highly correlated with Gleason score (p < 0.0001).
- [99mTc]MIP-1404 in the primary tumor was significantly lower in treated patients (p < 0.0001), corresponding to a decrease in PSA over time observed in these treated patients.
Apparently Progenics Pharmaceuticals has plans to initiate a Phase III trial of [99mTc]MIP-1404 in the near future.
Every advance in the ability to identify the location of prostate cancer in high-risk patients is, obviously, potentially important, because it allows for better targeting of treatment to the cancer as opposed to just one organ or area of the body.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Management, Risk, Treatment | Tagged: detection, Diagnosis, imaging, MIP-1404, prognosis |
Leave a Reply