HYBRID PSMA: radioguided in combination with fluorescence guided surgery in prostate cancer

With more than 10,000 new patients and more than 2,500 prostate cancer-related deaths every year, prostate cancer is the 5th most common type of cancer in the Netherlands. A large proportion of patients undergo (robot-assisted) surgery in which the prostate is removed. In a quarter of estimated 2,500-3,000 annual surgical procedures, the primary tumor is not completely removed. In addition, a fifth of patients require extensive lymph node dissection (ePLND; Briganti score > 5%). These limitations have created a need for techniques that can increase the accuracy of the surgical procedure. In this way, it should be possible to reduce the complications and prevent the recurrence of the disease.
The introduction of PSMA PET has greatly advanced the staging of prostate cancer patients and set a new standard of care. We now want to use the visualization of tumors via their PSMA expression to realize radio- and fluorescence guided interventions and to combine them with ‘GPS-like’ navigation of a DROP-IN gamma-ray detection probe. For this we will pursue three sub-goals: 1) creating a hybrid PSMA tracer (99mTcEuK-(SO3)Cy5-mas3; a tracer we developed) formulation suitable for use in patients, 2) creating clinically applicable navigation options for the DROP-IN probe, another technology developed by us, and 3) implementing both innovations in a clinical trial.
By introducing new surgical techniques into clinical care, the public partners want to take steps towards the realization of precision resections of prostate cancer and thereby raise the overall standard of care for these patients. Since the IP of the technologies that we will apply in clinical practice has already been secured, the project also offers opportunities for private partners to develop commercialization trajectories.