June 28, 2024
Toronto, Ontario—The
SNMMI Mars Shot Research Fund is excited to announce that Jason S. Lewis, PhD, EmilyTow
Chair in Oncology, vice chair for Research in the Department of Radiology, and chief
of the Radiochemistry and Imaging Sciences Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center in New York, New York, has been selected as the recipient of a $100,000
Diagnostic Pathways in Prostate Cancer grant from the 2024 Mars Shot Fund. Lewis’ Mars Shot grant was awarded
based on his proposal, “Evaluation of Alpha- versus Beta-Particle Targeted
Radiotherapy for Treatment of PSMA Heterogeneous Prostate Cancer.”
Despite
significant advancements in PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies, such
as the recent FDA approval of [177Lu]-Lu-PSMA-617, metastatic
castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains incurable. While high PSMA-expressing
tumors respond to treatment, the efficacy on tumors with heterogeneous
expression remains unclear.
“In our efforts to understand the effects of heterogeneous PSMA expression on
treatment outcomes with PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies, we are
developing clinically relevant disease models to monitor at the cellular level,”
said Lewis. “This can aid in treatment optimization for patients with mCRPC.”
In the study, Lewis and his team will further develop an isogenic murine model
of PSMA heterogeneous prostate cancer and use it to identify optimal targeted
radiotherapy treatments. The
objectives of the project are to explain how intralesional PSMA heterogeneity
contributes to PSMA-targeted
radiopharmaceutical therapies resistance and to determine therapeutic efficacy of
beta and alpha emissions in tumors with heterogeneous PSMA expression.
“Our preclinical model will be a critical
resource in the assessment of diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine for a
common, yet unexplored, therapy-resistant tumor phenotype,” noted Lewis. “This
research is critical to inform novel and personalized diagnostic and
therapeutic approaches for patient populations resistant to PSMA-targeted
radiopharmaceutical therapies.”
Lewis has more than 25 years of
experience in the design and application of novel radiopharmaceuticals for the
imaging of disease. His personal research program includes radiochemistry,
molecular imaging, nuclear targetry, chemistry, and imaging the tumor
microenvironment. Lewis’ independent lab has worked on the development of small
molecules targeting cancer, as well as radiolabeled peptides and antibodies
targeting the over-expression of receptors and antigens on tumors, many of them
prostate-focused.
The SNMMI Mars Shot
Research Fund, established in 2023, provides resources that translate visionary
nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceutical therapy and data science research
or projects into tools or treatments that will help improve the lives of
patients. The Diagnostic Pathways in Prostate Cancer grant,
supported by Telix Pharmaceuticals, was created to fund research on early and
accurate noninvasive diagnosis of prostate cancer to optimize treatment for better
patient outcomes.
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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
The Society of Nuclear Medicine
and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical
organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine and molecular
imaging—vital elements of precision medicine that allow diagnosis and treatment
to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible
outcomes.
SNMMI’s members set the
standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating
guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading
advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and
practice. For more information, visit www.snmmi.org.