Weill Cornell’s Dr. Scott Tagawa and his research team are featured on the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) website as one of the “2013 Prostate Cancer Research Highlights.” The article focuses on Dr. Tagawa’s research of an antibody called J591. J591 specifically recognizes prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), allowing prostate cancer cells to be targeted to be specifically targeted. Dr. Tagawa collaborated with Weill Cornell’s Dr. Neil Bander and his team to develop J591.
J591 was attached to a tiny radioactive particle called 177Lu. 177Lu-J591 seeks out prostate cancer cells and delivers a lethal dose of radiation to the areas of cancer, but not to normal areas. The researchers have been utilizing J591 in menwith metastatic prostate cancer for over a decade, with success in targeting metastatic tumors and decreases in PSA, tumor size, and pain symptoms.
The Defense Department’s Prostate Cancer Research Program Clinical Trial Award allowed the researchers to expand clinical testing of J591 through a multi-site, phase 2 clinical trial combining hormonal therapy with targeted J591 radiation. The researchers plan to initiate a Phase 3 trial of the radiolabeled J591.
Click here to read the CDMRP article.
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