Discovery
November 3, 2018

You know you’re doing something right when you have to develop a widespread system to support your work. Martin G. Pomper, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and Steven P. Rowe, M.D., Ph.D., have just come up with the solution.

Pomper has developed small molecules that target PSMA, an enzyme that sits on the surface of prostate cancer cells. His small molecule can be attached to radioactive atoms to become radio tracers. The worldwide use of PSMA-targeted PET imaging in prostate cancer has skyrocketed. But “as with any imaging test, there is a need to convey findings adequately from the interpreting radiologist” to the doctors who ordered the test, says Rowe. “We developed the PSMA reporting and data system (PSMA-RADS version 1.0), to tell referring clinicians of the likelihood that findings represent sites of prostate cancer, and guide the further work-up of indeterminate findings.”