Statuserhebung der studentischen Lehre für das Fach Nuklearmedizin in Deutschland

Aim Molecular imaging and therapy as applied in nuclear medicine represent an important contribution to modern medicine. The university curricula of medical schools permit to convey knowledge of nuclear medicine. In this study, the status quo of nuclear medicine teaching at German medical schools shall be surveyed for the first time. Methods In cooperation with the chairs and/or lecturers, the topics organizational conditions, scope of teaching, teaching methods, examinations, evaluations, composition of teaching staff, interest of the students in the field of nuclear medicine, as well as suggestions for improvement of teaching were recorded. Results All 36 public German medical schools participated in the survey. In these medical schools a median of 12 hours of nuclear medicine is being taught. 52 % of the teaching consists of teacher-centered learning. 18 medical schools teach additional elective courses in nuclear medicine. Nine 9 persons (median) per department are involved in the teaching. The examinations, in all but one school, follow a multiple choice format. The students' interest in nuclear medicine is perceived by the educators to be predominately medium to high. Conclusions Potential improvement might be achieved with regard to the quantity of teaching lessons, innovative methods of teaching, design of the exams, the establishment of a nationwide e-learning platform, as well as measures to increase the motivation of teachers

German Multicenter Study Investigating Lu-177-PSMA-617 Radioligand Therapy in Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients

Lu-177-labeled PSMA-617 is a promising new therapeutic agent for radioligand therapy (RLT) of patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Initiated by the German Society of Nuclear Medicine, a retrospective multicenter data analysis was started in 2015 to evaluate efficacy and safety of Lu-177-PSMA-617 in a large cohort of patients. Methods: One hundred forty-five patients (median age, 73 y; range, 43-88 y) with mCRPC were treated with Lu-177-PSMA-617 in 12 therapy centers between February 2014 and July 2015 with 1-4 therapy cycles and an activity range of 2-8 GBq per cycle. Toxicity was categorized by the common toxicity criteria for adverse events (version 4.0) on the basis of serial blood tests and the attending physician's report. The primary endpoint for efficacy was biochemical response as defined by a prostate-specific antigen decline 50% from baseline to at least 2 wk after the start of RLT. Results: A total of 248 therapy cycles were performed in 145 patients. Data for biochemical response in 99 patients as well as data for physician-reported and laboratory-based toxicity in 145 and 121 patients, respectively, were available. The median follow-up was 16 wk (range, 2-30 wk). Nineteen patients died during the observation period. Grade 3-4 hematotoxicity occurred in 18 patients: 10%, 4%, and 3% of the patients experienced anemia, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia, respectively. Xerostomia occurred in 8%. The overall biochemical response rate was 45% after all therapy cycles, whereas 40% of patients already responded after a single cycle. Elevated alkaline phosphatase and the presence of visceral metastases were negative predictors and the total number of therapy cycles positive predictors of biochemical response. Conclusion: The present retrospective multicenter study of Lu-177-PSMA-617 RLT demonstrates favorable safety and high efficacy exceeding those of other third-line systemic therapies in mCRPC patients. Future phase II/III studies are warranted to elucidate the survival benefit of this new therapy in patients with mCRPC