On May 11, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center held a launch ceremony for the first PRRT clinical trial in Shanghai. Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) uses the "nuclear missile" --Lutetium 177-DOTATATE to specifically bind somatostatin analogues with somatostatin receptors in order to target the malignant cells with precision, playing the dual role of biotherapy and intratumor irradiation in tumor treatment.
The first patient was a 58-year-old woman with a rectal neuroendocrine tumor with multiple metastases. Despite various treatments over the last 2 years, the disease continued to progress. After multidisciplinary consultations it was decided that Lutetium 177-DOTATATE should be used for her treatment. According to protocol, four treatments are required with an interval of 6-8 weeks between each treatment.
The Department of Nuclear Medicine Fudan University Shanghai Cancer is the first unit to develop somatostatin receptor imaging in China and the first national radiopharmaceutical base approved for clinical trials. It is also the Shanghai Molecular Imaging Probe Engineering Research Center, which has the Class IV license for radiopharmaceuticals. The drug in this clinical trial was developed and provided by Beijing Xiantong Company with independent intellectual property rights in China. This is the first clinical trial of PRRT treatment in China.