Memorial First in South Florida to Offer Prostate Cancer Detection Imaging Agent Pylarify

Implementing the latest technologies in prostate cancer care, Memorial Healthcare System became South Florida’s first hospital system, and among the first nationally, to utilize PYLARIFY® (F-18 DCFPyL), post FDA approval. PYLARIFY is a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging agent that targets and identifies suspected metastasis or recurrence of prostate cancer.

PYLARIFY was developed to target PSMA, a protein that is overexpressed on the surface of more than 90% of primary and metastatic prostate cancer cells. Once PYLARIFY binds itself to the PSMA protein, it lights up, enabling the PET scan to detect and locate the disease.

“Conventional imaging has significant limitations in detecting prostate cancer, both in initial staging and when the cancer has recurred or spread after initial treatment,” said Dr. Jonathan Silberstein, MD, chief of Urology and Uro-Oncology, Memorial Healthcare System. “The evolution of imaging technology through this agent allows us to detect the cancer in a much earlier time period, so we can direct therapies more efficiently.”

The collaboration between specialists highlights Memorial Cancer Institute’s multidisciplinary approach in treating prostate cancer patients. A dedicated team of cancer experts in radiology, medical oncology, urology and radiation oncology work together to provide patients with better options that advance prostate cancer care.

Ignacio Castellon, MD, chief of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Cancer Institute, whose team administers cancer treatment to control or eradicate malignant cells, adds, “The PSMA PET scan highlights exactly what areas we need to treat and whether we should take a more localized treatment approach or offer more systemic treatment to achieve optimal results for our patients.”

“This transformative diagnostic tool helps clinicians develop treatment plans based on a much more accurate understanding of a patient’s distribution of disease,” said Barbara Raphael, MD, chief of Nuclear Medicine, Memorial Healthcare System and Medical Director of PET Imaging Institute of South Florida. “This is a game changer for radiation oncologists, urologists and medical oncologists as they are able to be more precise in treating patients, and even more important for the millions of men who have prostate cancer and have historically had no answers as to the extent of their disease. PYLARIFY takes them out of the dark and provides them with hope that they will finally have answers.”

For more information, patients can contact the Memorial Cancer Institute at 954-265-4325 or visit PET Imaging Institute of South Florida's Prostate Cancer page. Patients will need a signed order from their treating physician prior to scheduling a PSMA PET scan.

Lantheus, the manufacturer of PYLARIFY, is evaluating a PSMA therapeutic agent for targeted prostate cancer therapy, which will complement its detection technology.