According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes. Until now, conventional imaging, especially at low PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) levels, has not been able to identify the location and extent of the disease in the majority of cases of men with a suspected cancer recurrence.
Now, Stony Brook Cancer Center in conjunction with Stony Brook Advanced Imaging is the first on Long Island to offer men with prostate cancer targeted Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging with PYLARIFY®, a Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) imaging agent.
Backed by the experts and state-of-the-art technology at Stony Brook Advanced Imaging centers, this type of imaging will provide patients more accuracy and clarity on their current, and future diagnoses. It enables visualization of lymph nodes, bone and soft tissue metastasis to determine the presence or absence of recurrent and/or metastatic prostate cancer.
In July, Frank V., 69, was the first patient to be scanned using the PYLARIFY® imaging agent at Stony Brook Advanced Imaging in Riverhead. Frank is a patient of Wayne Waltzer, MD, Chair, Department of Urology, and will continue to receive his cancer care with Dr. Waltzer.
Dinko Franceschi, MD, Chief of Nuclear Medicine and Director of Clinical PET, Department of Radiology, and the physician most familiar with the PYLARIFY® clinical trials, states, “For years, there has not been good imaging modalities for prostate cancer – now we have this tool to see exactly where the tumor is in a patient, which will help in determining the best approach going forward, such as various therapies and treatment or care plans.”
Developed by Lantheus, PYLARIFY® was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (May 2021) as the first and only commercially available, approved PSMA PET imaging agent for prostate cancer. Those with suspected metastasis who are candidates for initial definitive therapy or those with suspected recurrence based on elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level are eligible for the scan.
PSMA scans are available at two Stony Brook Medicine imaging centers (Riverhead and Stony Brook) with more locations to follow. Stony Brook Medicine’s specialty-trained radiologists, along with highly skilled and experienced technologists, staff these centers.
For more information or to make an appointment, visit imaging.stonybrookmedicine.edu or call (631) 638-2600.
To learn more about Stony Brook Cancer Center's Genitourinary Oncology team that treats prostate cancer, click here
or call (631) SB-CANCER (722-2623).