Lutetium-177 [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-617 improves survival and quality of life in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, but whether it confers a benefit in hormone-sensitive disease is unknown. We aimed to evaluate [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 before docetaxel treatment in patients with de-novo high-volume metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

UpFrontPSMA was an investigator-initiated, multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 2 trial done at 11 Australian hospitals. Eligible patients had prostate adenocarcinoma without clinically significant neuroendocrine differentiation or small-cell histology, were aged 18 years or older, had less than 4 weeks on androgen deprivation therapy, had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2, and had high-volume PSMA-avid disease on [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET-CT with no major discordance on 2-[¹⁸F] fluorodeoxyglucose-PET-CT. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to the experimental treatment ([¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 followed 6 weeks later by docetaxel) or standard-of-care treatment (docetaxel alone) using computer-based block randomisation with random block sizes, stratified by disease volume by conventional imaging and duration of androgen deprivation therapy at the time of registration. Neither patients nor investigators were masked to treatment assignment. Patients in the experimental group received two cycles of [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 7·5 GBq every 6 weeks intravenously, followed 6 weeks later by six cycles of docetaxel 75 mg/m² every 3 weeks intravenously, whereas patients in the standard-of-care treatment group received six cycles of docetaxel 75 mg/m² every 3 weeks intravenously. All patients received continuous androgen deprivation therapy. The primary endpoint was undetectable prostate-specific antigen (≤0·2 ng/mL) at 48 weeks, assessed using a modified intention-to-treat analysis. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04343885.

Between May 5, 2020, and April 18, 2023, 130 patients were randomly assigned, 63 (48%) to [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 plus docetaxel and 67 (52%) to docetaxel alone. All patients were male and no race or ethnicity data were collected. Median follow-up was 2·5 years (IQR 1·8–3·0). Four patients in the docetaxel alone group withdrew consent after randomisation and no data beyond screening were collected. An additional four patients were not evaluable for the primary endpoint at 48 weeks (two in each group). 25 (41%) of 61 patients (95% CI 30–54) in the [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 plus docetaxel group had undetectable PSA at 48 weeks compared with ten (16%) of 61 patients (9–28) in the docetaxel alone group (OR 3·88, 95% CI 1·61–9·38; p=0·0020). The most common grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events were febrile neutropenia (seven [11%] of 63 patients in the [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 plus docetaxel group vs six [10%] of 63 patients in the docetaxel alone group) and diarrhoea (four [6%] of 63 patients vs none). Serious adverse events occurred in 16 (25%) patients in the [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 plus docetaxel group (none were definitely related to [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617) and 16 (25%) patients in the docetaxel alone group. No treatment-related deaths occurred.

[¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 followed by docetaxel improved antitumour activity in patients with de-novo high-volume metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer compared with docetaxel alone, without increased toxic effects. Our data potentially support a role for [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer Research Alliance (Movember Foundation and Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund), US Department of Defence Impact Award-Clinical Trials, Endocyte/Advanced Accelerator Applications (a Novartis company), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Victorian Cancer Agency, University of Melbourne, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation.