Israeli Patient’s Advanced Prostate Cancer Disappears After Lutetium-177 Treatment

Gonen Klein, a 66-year-old resident of Kibbutz Degania B, has fully recovered from metastatic prostate cancer that had spread to his bones and other organs following treatment at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed. After undergoing a series of therapies using the radioactive agent Lutetium-177 PSMA at the center’s Nuclear Medicine Institute, imaging tests showed no signs of the malignancy, and his PSA blood levels dropped to zero. Doctors at Ziv Medical Center were surprised by the complete disappearance of the tumor and its metastases.

The Lutetium-177 treatment is a form of targeted nuclear medicine that binds to a protein highly expressed on prostate cancer cells, delivering radiation directly to the tumor while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. This therapy is provided on an outpatient basis under Israel’s national health basket and is primarily intended for patients with metastatic prostate cancer that has progressed despite hormone or chemotherapy.

Dr. Israel Sandler, head of the Nuclear Medicine Institute at Ziv, emphasized the treatment’s precision and its ability to slow disease progression and improve quality of life. He noted that Klein’s case was exceptional in achieving complete remission. The institute uses the advanced Veriton imaging system, the only SPECT camera of its kind in Israel, to plan and monitor treatment.

Klein described the results as "unbelievable" and an emotional milestone for him and his family. He urged other men to undergo simple blood tests for early cancer detection. His wife, Rivka Klein, expressed gratitude for the treatment’s success and highlighted the importance of making such advanced therapies accessible in northern Israel. Professor Salman Zarka, director of Ziv Medical Center, stated that expanding access to cutting-edge medical care in peripheral regions is a key goal, allowing patients to receive high-level treatment close to home without long travel.

This case underscores the potential of personalized nuclear medicine in treating advanced prostate cancer and improving patient outcomes in Israel’s periphery.