Theranostics treatments for cancer underway at UCLA Health
UCLA Health’s new leading-edge theranostics center, using targeted radioactive drugs to treat advanced cancer, is now open.
Offering state-of-the-art facilities and expertise, the 3,000-square-foot Outpatient Theranostics Center in Westwood, part of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, specializes in radiopharmaceutical therapy. It is one of the largest of its kind in the United States, according to Jeremie Calais, MD, PhD, Director of the Ahmanson Translational Theranostics Division of UCLA’s clinical research program. The center recently treated its first patient for metastatic prostate cancer, marking a significant milestone for UCLA Health, according to Johannes Czernin, MD, Vice Chair Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
The center, which opened Feb. 13, is mostly focused on advanced prostate cancer, but it will also treat patients with thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. Dr. Calais anticipates that the rapidly growing field of theranostics could eventually expand to include kidney, breast, lung, pancreatic and liver cancers.
What is theranostics?
The term theranostics comes from the combination of therapeutics and diagnostics.
The treatment, which relies on a therapeutic agent and a diagnostic agent to eliminate the same molecular target, uses the proteins present on tumor cells as anchors for radioactive drugs. This allows doctors to visualize the cancer via a PET scan and then deliver the targeted radioactive medicine to treat it.
Dr. Czernin confirms that the most novel theranostics treatment available for treating metastatic prostate cancer currently has a response rate of 40% to 50%, improving both lifespan and quality of life for patients. This response rate represents a significant success for this treatment method.
In the diagnostic phase, patients receive an injection of a tiny amount of a radiotracer that binds itself to cancer cells, showing the presence of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive lesions. PSMA is overexpressed in prostate cancer. The cancer cells become visible on the PET scan as bright spots.
In the therapeutics phase, eligible patients undergo up to six rounds of treatment with the radioactive drug Pluvicto, which targets and kills those same cancer cells. Treatment efficacy is monitored through imaging, offering immediate results of the therapeutic effects, another breakthrough for this remarkable new method.
People with prostate cancer must have completed or attempted chemotherapy to qualify for treatment with Pluvicto.
Side effects are minimal because the therapy targets the cancer cells and not healthy organs. However, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, bone pain and dry mouth may occur.
Dr. Czernin urges timely referrals for patients not responding to chemotherapy after two or three cycles. Though no stage is too late, he emphasized it is preferable that treatment be administered as early as possible to ensure and expedite the healing process.
Patients travel for world-class theranostics care
Before the center’s opening, patients traveled from across the country and around the world for theranostics treatment at UCLA Health. Dr. Czernin expects this trend to continue, noting that the Outpatient Theranostics Center’s large capacity helps ensure short wait times and more efficient service, focusing on patient comfort and providing everything necessary for their treatment and recovery.
The UCLA Health team is committed to patient care, as demonstrated by communicating with referring oncologists throughout treatment. Upon completion, patients are returned to their referring oncologists for ongoing care.
Dr. Czernin added that beyond Pluvicto, the center offers Xofigo for prostate cancer that has spread to the bones, and Lutathera for people with neuroendocrine cancer, often achieving long-term stabilization.
Radioiodine treatment is also available for people with thyroid cancer at intermediate or high risk of recurrence post-surgery.
The first patient treated at the facility for prostate cancer expressed profound gratitude for the care he received, underscoring the positive impact of UCLA Health’s leading-edge theranostics center.
For more information, please visit https://www.uclahealth.org/international-services/ or call +1 310-794-8759
