GU Cancers Symposium 2012 - Radium-223 chloride impact on skeletal-related events in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with bone metastases: A phase III randomized trial (ALSYMPCA)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (UroToday.com) - Results from ALSYMPCA trial reveal that radium-223 chloride, a local-acting calcium mimetic, significantly prolongs both overall survival and the time to the first skeletal-related event (SRE), compared with placebo, in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases.

This unique therapeutic approach "stands in strong distinction to zoledronic acid and denosumab, both of which improve SREs but which do not improve survival," notes lead investigator A. Oliver Sartor, MD, Tulane Cancer Center.

Radium-223 works by binding to stoma adjacent to bone metastases, where it then acts like a small bomb. The bursts of emitted alpha particles penetrate a diameter of only 2 to 10 cells, breaking DNA along the way to result in highly localized tumor cell killing but in only minimal damage to normal surrounding tissue.

Presented by A. Oliver Sartor, MD¹ at the 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium - February 2 - 4, 2012 - San Francisco Marriott Marquis - San Francisco, California
¹Medical Director of the Tulane Cancer Center, C.E. and Bernadine Laborde Professor of Cancer Research, Professor, Department of Medicine: Section of Hematology & Medical Oncology and Department of Urology, New Orleans, LA USA

Reported for UroToday by Karen Roberts, Medical Writer

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