NETWise Episode 28: PRRT Revisited

In this episode, we’re talking in depth about one of the most exciting and widely discussed treatments for NETs: PRRT.

This is a revised version of an episode that originally released in 2020. A lot has happened since then in the development of nuclear medicine treatments like PRRT, and we’re excited to bring you information that is updated and current. A special thank you to Dr. Courtney Lawhn Heath, a nuclear radiologist at the University of California, San Francisco for helping to update this NETWise episode.

This NETWise podcast discusses Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) a targeted form of radiotherapy approved in the U.S. in 2018. Listen in as NET experts Josh Mailman, Drs. George Fisher, Thor Halfdanarson, Ed Wolin, Richard Baum, and others explain what it is, how it works, and who is most likely to benefit from PRRT. This therapy relies on a tumor’s expression of somatostatin receptors. We explain what they are and how to know if you have them.

We take an objective look at the success rates for this therapy. What does research, like the NETTER-1 study, tell us about outcomes for this form of treatment? To give you information about both the pros and cons of PRRT, we will also discuss the potential side effects, from mild to serious. To give you a sense of what it is like to undergo PRRT, we’ll talk with multiple patients about their experience with the procedure itself, as well as the radiation safety precautions patients should take immediately following treatment. Finally, we look to the future asking Drs. Rod Hicks and Tom Hope to explain some of the new therapeutic directions PRRT is taking.

Thank you to our clinical experts for participating in this episode.

• George Fisher, an Oncologist at Stanford University
• Xavier Keutgen is a surgeon at the University of Chicago
• Courtney Lawhn Heath, a nuclear radiologist at the University of California, San Francisco
• Josh Mailman, a NET patient, NETRF board member and advocate who’s a world authority on PRRT for NETs
• Ed Wolin, an Oncologist at Mt. Sinai in New York
• Richard Baum, a nuclear medicine specialist in Germany
• Aman Chauhan, head of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program at the University of Miami
• Rathan Subramaniam, Executive Dean of the medical school at the University of Notre Dame in Australia
• Karen Ohara, Research Coordinator at Rush University in Chicago
• Blase Polite from the University of Chicago
• Rodney Hicks from the University of Melbourne in Australia

Thank you to Gary Murfin for sharing his story. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Marilyn Kline, who passed away during the production of the original episode.

Special thanks to our sponsors for their support of this podcast.