Lutetium-177 gets the green light from the FDA

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"Swiss drugmaker Novartis has received breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an experimental treatment for advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer, the company said on Wednesday."

"The therapy attaches a radioactive isotope, lutetium-177, with a half-life of less than seven days, to a small molecule drug, PSMA-617, that binds to an antigen expressed in large amounts by prostate cancer cells. It aims to kill cancer cells in a targeted way while limiting damage to surrounding, healthy cells."

FDA approval is an important step in the progress of a new therapy, and it will lead to Lutetium's use becoming more widespread - and, hopefully, made available at an earlier stage.

Novartis prostate cancer drug receives FDA breakthrough designation