Aytu BioScience, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercialization of urology products, has begun enrollment and patient dosing in a prostate cancer study for the detection and localization of carcinoma using high resolution transrectal gamma imaging (TRGI). The study is in collaboration with Hybridyne Imaging Technologies and will investigate the efficacy of Hybridyne’s ProxiScanT compact gamma cameras to detect local prostate cancer using Aytu’s imaging agent ProstaScint.
The study is now enrolling patients at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada’s largest cancer treatment center, and is being led by Dr. Antonio Finelli. Under the study, approximately 60 men will take part in this three-arm, open label study, including the following patient groups:
— Group 1: Patients who have rising levels of PSA (>0.05ng/ml) after radical prostatectomy treatment
— Group 2: Patients who have rising PSA (>10ng/ml) and/or abnormal digital rectal exam and have previously undergone at least one prostate biopsy that was determined to be negative for prostate cancer
— Group 3: Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer (with at least one positive prostate biopsy) and have a scheduled biopsy as part of their
routine follow-up
ProstaScint is an FDA-approved imaging agent that specifically targets prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and demonstrates high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. Hybridyne’s high-resolution ProxiScan gamma camera utilizes cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector technology and is small enough for trans-rectal prostate cancer diagnosis, after the patient is injected with an imaging agent such as ProstaScint.
Combined, these technologies stand to offer additional diagnostic and prognostic assurances to urologists, ultimately increasing the quality of care for prostate cancer patients in Canada and potentially elsewhere around the world.