Hematologic toxicity profile and efficacy of [ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617 α-radioligand therapy of patients with extensive skeletal metastases of castration-resistant prostate cancer

Purpose Actinium-225-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen ([ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617) is safe and effective in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). No study has specifically assessed its safety in patients with extensive skeletal metastases of mCRPC. We aimed to investigate the hematologic toxicity and efficacy of [ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617 therapy in patients with extensive skeletal metastases of mCRPC. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical record of patients treated with [ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617 for mCRPC. We included patients with a superscan pattern of skeletal metastases and those with 20 or more multifocal sites of skeletal metastases on baseline [ 68 Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT. We reviewed the levels of hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC), and platelet prior to each cycle of treatment and determined the presence of impaired bone marrow function at baseline and the grade of toxicity in the hematologic parameters induced by treatment. We evaluated the predictors of hematologic toxicity using binary logistic regression analysis. We also determined the presence of renal dysfunction before or during treatment. We assessed response to treatment using prostate-specific antigen response and the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results A total of 106 patients were included. Skeletal metastasis was in the superscan pattern in 34 patients (32.1%) and multifocal in 72 patients (67.9%). The median treatment cycle was 4 (range = 1–9). Ninety-eight patients (92.5%) had abnormal baseline hematologic parameters. One patient had grade 4 thrombocytopenia. Grade 3 anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia were seen in 1 (0.9%), 3 (2.8%), and 2 (1.9%) patients, respectively. Age, the number of treatment cycles, and the presence of renal dysfunction were significant predictors of hematologic toxicity. Eighty-five patients (80.2%) achieved PSA response. The median PFS and OS of the study population were 14:00 (95%CI: 8.15–19.86) months and 15.0 (95%CI: 12.8–17.2) months, respectively. Conclusions [ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617 induces a good anti-tumor effect in about 80% of patients with extensive skeletal metastases of mCRPC with a rare incidence of severe hematologic toxicity. Age, number of treatment cycles, and the presence of renal dysfunction were significant risk factors for hematologic toxicity of [ 225 Ac]Ac-PSMA-617 therapy.