Weill Cornell Medicine in the US has secured a grant of approximately $4m from the National Cancer Institute for a clinical trial to assess a new imaging approach in prostate cancer monitoring.

The study will test whether the addition of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) - positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) (PSMA-PET CT) imaging modality to active surveillance regimens improves prostate cancer monitoring.

With a possible two-year extension, this five-year grant will investigate if this imaging modality can minimise the requirement for biopsies during active surveillance of this cancer and eliminate its presence that needs treatment.

According to Weill Cornell Medicine, PSMA-PET CT leverages a radioactive diagnostic agent for identifying a protein present on the surface of prostate cells and at higher levels on prostate cancer cells.

This imaging technique is said to have already been employed to identify metastasis in high-risk cases and to monitor remission.

Under this approach, patients are monitored through regular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and biopsies to check for any signs of cancer progression. 

The study’s principal investigator, Dr Timothy McClure, along with colleagues from Weill Cornell Medicine’s department of radiology and the department of pathology’s molecular imaging and therapeutics division, will assess whether PSMA-PET CT addition can enhance the specificity and sensitivity of prostate cancer surveillance while minimising screening-related harm.

Dr McClure said: “Our trial leverages cross-sector collaboration to innovate and streamline care for patients with prostate cancer.

“We hope to develop alternatives for prostate cancer surveillance that help us more effectively stratify which patients need treatment.”

Weill Cornell Medicine noted that 200 men with low-risk or intermediate-risk prostate cancer will be assigned by the researchers, and the trial will enrol subjects at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and four additional sites. 

The study is also supported by Lantheus, the producer of the diagnostic agent used in PSMA-PET CT.

The research is partly supported by the National Cancer Institute.

Last month, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers and the New York Genome Center identified a method for cancer detection via blood test, using whole-genome sequencing and error correction.