Blue Earth Diagnostics, a leading molecular imaging diagnostics company, recently announced that their manufacturing partner Nucleis (Liege, Belgium) has manufactured and shipped their first patient doses of rhPSMA-7.3 (18F), an investigational Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-targeted radio-hybrid PET imaging agent, currently under evaluation in clinical trials in men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer and suspected prostate cancer recurrence.

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in men. Accurate staging of newly diagnosed prostate cancer assists in directing appropriate initial treatment strategies. After initial treatment, recurrence occurs in up to one-third of patients, typically detected by a rise in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. However, in both settings, conventional imaging is limited in detecting the location and extent of the disease. Of those who suffer biochemical recurrence, approximately one-third develop metastatic prostate cancer.