Mountainside becomes first NJ hospital approved to use new prostate cancer treatment

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GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center has been approved to use Pluvicto, an FDA-approved, targeted radioligand therapy for treatment of metastatic prostate-specific membrane antigen positive castration-resistant prostate cancer. Pluvicto is the first and only targeted radioligand therapy for patients with this type of prostate cancer. The approval makes Mountainside Medical Center the first in the state to offer treatment using Pluvicto.

“Pluvicto emits radioactive agents that target PSMA+ cancer cells in the body,” said Dr. Brett Lewis, medical director of radiation oncology at Mountainside Medical Center. “This precision limits damage to other cells and improves outcomes for patients. This innovation is life-changing for our patients and their loved ones.”

Studies show that patients treated with Pluvicto, after treatment with androgen receptor pathway inhibition and taxane-based chemotherapy, had a 38-percent reduction in risk of death compared to AR pathway inhibition and chemotherapy alone. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with an estimated 268,490 new cases and 34,500 deaths projected for 2022. 

“Collaboration between medical staff and hospital leadership is critical to the growth of our oncology program,” Mountainside CEO Tim O’Brien said. “Bringing the latest, targeted cancer therapies to our hospital means that our local community has access to the advanced care options they need, closer to home.”

In July of this year, Mountainside Medical Center was among one of the first hospitals in northern New Jersey to offer prostate cancer targeted positron emission tomography with Illucix, a prostate-specific membrane antigen imaging agent. 

“In conjunction, these products significantly improve survival for patients who have already been treated with other anticancer treatments,” said Dr. James Orsini Jr., hematology oncologist at Mountainside Medical Center.

  Cancer, Mountainside Medical Center