Freehold, New Jersey

In keeping with its commitment to offer patients an extensive range of cancer therapies in a convenient community setting, the Freehold, NJ office of Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) is now providing treatment with Xofigo® (radium Ra 223 dichloride) to patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC.

mCRPC is an advanced form of prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and that is no longer responding to hormone treatment given to reduce levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone that fuels prostate cancer growth.

Xofigo is a targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy delivered via a series of 6 once-monthly intravenous injections. The injection itself takes approximately one minute, and the total time from a patient’s arrival at the office until leaving typically is under one hour.

Upon injection, Xofigo travels to the site of bone metastases, where it emits radioactive alpha particles that damage the DNA of cancerous cells, causing those cells to die. The short range of the alpha particles emitted by Xofigo (<10 cell diameters) limits damage to surrounding normal tissue.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xofigo for use in mCRPC in 2013. The approval is for mCRPC patients who have symptomatic skeletal metastases (such as bone pain) and no evidence of metastases in soft tissue. The FDA’s approval was based on the results of the ALSYMPCA study, which involved 912 men who had mCRPC and two or more symptomatic bone metastases. The study participants were randomly assigned on a 2:1 basis to receive Xofigo (614 patients) or placebo (307 patients) in addition to any other prostate cancer therapies that their physicians had already started.

The ALSYMPCA study found that patients receiving Xofigo lived longer than men receiving placebo, with the 30% reduction in relative risk of death being statistically significant. Further, relative to placebo, Xofigo delayed the time to a first symptomatic skeletal event by almost 6 months. The most common side effects reported with Xofigo were nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, with most cases of those complaints being mild and resolving quickly. The incidence of severe nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea among patients receiving Xofigo was 2% for each complaint.

In addition to Xofigo, the Freehold office of RCCA offers another targeted radiopharmaceutical, Pluvicto® (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan), to patients with mCRPC. To be eligible for Pluvicto, patients must have mCRPC that is positive for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). PSMA is a biomarker that is expressed on prostate cancer cells and that can be seen on an imaging test called PSMA positron emission tomography, or PSMA PET. The FDA approved Pluvicto for use in PSMA-positive mCRPC in March 2022.

Beyond Xofigo and Pluvicto, the medical oncologists of RCCA’s Freehold office provide a range of therapies for various forms of advanced prostate cancer, other solid tumors, and cancers of the blood and blood-forming tissues.


To learn more about Xofigo and the other treatments and clinical trials that the Freehold office of RCCA offers, call (732) 431-8400.

The Freehold, NJ office of Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) is now offering the targeted therapy Pluvicto^® (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan) to patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that is positive for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA).

mCRPC is an advanced form of prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and that is no longer responding to hormone treatment given to reduce levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone that fuels prostate cancer growth. PSMA is a biomarker that is expressed on prostate cancer cells and that can be seen on an imaging test called PSMA positron emission tomography, or PSMA PET.

Pluvicto attaches to PSMA and then is absorbed by cells that express the biomarker. Once absorbed into those cells, Pluvicto releases radiation that can damage and kill cells that are PSMA-positive and other nearby cells.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pluvicto for use in PSMA-positive mCRPC in March 2022 after the Phase 3 VISION trial showed that patients with PSMA+ mCRPC who received Pluvicto had longer survival than men receiving standard therapies. The most common side effects seen with Pluvicto include tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, low red blood cell counts, and loss of appetite, among others.

Pluvicto is given via intravenous (IV) injection or infusion approximately every 6 weeks for up to 6 treatments. The targeted therapy typically is given after mCRPC patients have experienced disease progression on other treatments, such as hormone therapy and chemotherapy. Before starting the treatment, patients must have imaging tests to confirm that they have PSMA-positive cancer cells. Patients also must take certain precautions during and following treatment.

To learn more about Pluvicto and the full range of treatments and clinical trials that the Freehold office of RCCA offers for people with solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, and non-cancerous blood disorders, call (732) 431-8400.