Dr. Declan G. Murphy on results of the proPSMA study of Ga 68 PSMA-11 in prostate cancer

In December 2020, the FDA approved Gallium (Ga) 68 PSMA-1 as the first drug for PET imaging of PSMA-positive lesions in men with prostate cancer.

Declan G. Murphy, MBBCh, was the senior author of the phase 3 proPSMA study, which examined Ga 68 PSMA-1 in patients with high-risk prostate cancer before curative-intent surgery. The study randomized 152 men to conventional imaging and 150 men to Ga 68 PSMA-1 between March 22, 2017, and November 2, 2018. In this video, Murphy discusses the results of the study.

Eighty-seven (30%) of 295 men with available follow-up data had pelvic nodal or distant metastatic disease. The accuracy rate of PSMA PET-CT was 27% greater than the accuracy rate of conventional imaging, at 92% versus 65%, respectively (P <.0001). Sensitivity (85% vs 38%) and specificity (98% vs 91%) was also improved with PSMA PET-CT over conventional imaging.

PSMA PET-CT also conferred management changes more frequently (41 vs 23 men). Additionally, 23% of the findings with conventional management were equivocal compared with only 7% with PSMA PET-CT.

“PSMA PET-CT is a suitable replacement for conventional imaging, providing superior accuracy, to the combined findings of CT and bone scanning,” Murphy and coauthors wrote in their study conclusion (Lancet. 2020;395(10231):1208-1216. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30314-7).