he Nuclear Medicine service of the La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia has successfully administered the first treatment with radiopharmaceuticals targeted drugs, known as radioligand, approved in Spain for patients with metastatic prostate cancer resistant to castration and with expression of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA).
This type of cancer corresponds to an advanced phase of the disease, in which the tumor has spread to other organs and continues to progress despite hormonal treatment. This is a clinical situation with a poor prognosis, with an average five-year survival of around 15%, which reinforces the need for new effective and targeted therapeutic options.
The new radiopharmaceutical acts specifically on tumors that express PSMA, a very common target in advanced prostate cancer. This selectivity allows combining diagnosis and treatment in a single strategyincreasing therapeutic precision and reducing the impact on healthy tissues.
The procedure has been carried out within a multidisciplinary approachwith the coordinated participation of the Urology, Medical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine services. This collaboration has allowed, according to the center, “to consolidate La Fe as a national reference center in theragnosis and oncological precision medicine.”
«The use of radiopharmaceutical therapy represents a disruptive precision medicine approachintegrating diagnosis and treatment into a single targeted strategy. “We are very proud to be able to offer this therapeutic advance to patients who until now had very limited options,” explains the head of the Nuclear Medicine service of La Fe, Rafael Díaz, in a statement.
The approval of the treatment in Spain occurred after the evaluation of the results of the phase III VISION clinical trial, which demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of death and radiological progression compared to standard treatment. These data have supported both the regulatory authorization and its financing by the National Health System (SNS), which will facilitate access for a greater number of patients.
La Fe has extensive experience in the use of targeted radiopharmaceuticals and is one of the Nuclear Medicine services with the most experience in this area at the national level. «La Fe’s commitment to healthcare innovation and applied research allows us to be at the forefront of treatments that combine diagnosis and therapy in an integrated way, directly benefiting patients with complex needs,” emphasizes Dr. Díaz.
«Paradigm shift»
The introduction of this therapy has been possible thanks to close collaboration between specialties and the accumulated experience in advanced nuclear medicine. In the words of La Fe Nuclear Medicine specialist Stephan Prado, this treatment “represents a paradigm shift in the approach to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Its administration requires precision, clinical coordination and experience in advanced nuclear medicine, skills that La Fe has successfully consolidated.
This advance is part of a care and research strategy that positions La Fe Hospital as one of the leading public hospitals in personalized cancer treatment and in the use of integrated diagnosis and therapy techniques for complex pathologies.
date: 2026-02-08 16:28:00