INNOVATIVE NEW THERAPIES FOR PROSTATE CANCER AND NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS OFFER HOPE

About one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. About six cases in 10 occur in men aged 65 or older. African American men are more than twice as likely to develop prostate cancer and die from the disease.

The American Cancer Society’s 2023 cancer statistics report found that overall cancer deaths have declined by 33% since 1991. That’s more than 3.8 million cancer deaths averted.

Unfortunately, the report also indicated that prostate cancer, the second-most common cause of cancer deaths among men has increased by 3% annually between 2014 and 2019. The increase in deaths corresponds to a rise in diagnosis of advanced-stage prostate cancer of nearly 5% annually since 2011.

Neuroendocrine tumors often develop in the GI tract. The number of diagnosed cases has been on the increase for several years, most likely due to improvements in diagnostic techniques, better imaging studies, and increased awareness.

Each year, about 8,000 adults in the United States are diagnosed with a GI tract neuroendocrine tumor. The 5-year survival rate is about 94%. However, the survival rate depends on many factors, including the specific location of the tumor. For a tumor that has not spread to other parts of the body the survival rate is nearly 97%. If the tumor has spread to nearby tissue or the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is around 95%. If the tumor has spread to distant areas of the body, the rate falls to just 67%.

New Therapies and Diagnostic Imaging Technologies Lead the Way

Inland Imaging’s Nuclear Medicine Department has been instrumental in bringing a groundbreaking new form of cancer treatment called theranostics to the Inland Northwest. According to the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Theranostics refers to the pairing of diagnostic biomarkers with therapeutic agents that share a specific target in diseased cells or tissues.

More specifically, Theranostics describes the use of radioactive compounds to image specific disease targets and then to use that same tumor-specific compound to deliver therapeutic radiation to that specifically targeted tumor type. Theranostics allows for a more targeted and personalized approach to cancer treatment by helping to provide customized targeted management for various cancers.

Inland Imaging currently provides two of these groundbreaking new forms of targeted cancer treatment: Pluvicto, the first FDA-approved theranostic agent for treating metastatic prostate cancer; and Lutathera, the first FDA-approved theranostic agent for the treatment of advanced neuroendocrine tumors.

Currently, Inland Imaging is the only provider in the region offering both Pluvicto and Lutathera and one of only a handful of centers in the country able to offer advanced personalized dosimetric analysis to patients by employing SPECT/CT in combination with advanced software to verify the distribution of the therapy and quickly quantify tumor response during a patient’s treatment course. This allows Inland’s Theranostics team to tailor treatments to individual patients and subsequently reduces side effects by minimizing the radiation dose to normal tissue. 

Inland Imaging is proud to provide these innovative therapies in Eastern Washington, Northern Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana, which means more effective and advanced treatment, closer to home, for those suffering from prostate or neuroendocrine cancers.