Effectiveness and safety of radium-223 dichloride in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases in real-world practice: A multi-institutional study

Objective Radium-223 (Ra-223) dichloride is the bone-targeted radioligand therapy that prolongs overall survival (OS) in patients with bone-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this treatment in real-world practice. Methods We included Japanese men treated with Ra-223 for bone-metastatic CRPC from 10 institutions, retrospectively. Primary endpoint was OS. Secondary endpoint was maximum decline of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase, and prostate-specific antigen values, the rate of adverse events, and time to pathological fracture after Ra-223 treatment. Exploratory endpoint was the associations between clinical parameters and OS. Results In total, 73 men with bone metastatic CRPC treated with Ra-223 were enrolled. The median OS was 20.9 months. ALP levels decreased significantly from pre-treatment (p = 0.03). Anemia occurred in three (4.1%) patients. Grade >= 3 non-pathological fractures occurred in four (5.5%) men. Nine (12.3%) patients presented pathological fracture; 7/30 (23.3%) were in men without concomitant use of a bone-modifying agent (BMA) while 2/43 (4.7%) were in patients with concomitant BMA (p = 0.03). The median OS in patients with >= 3 cycles treatment (27.2 months, p < 0.001) or hemoglobin >= 12 g/dl (27.2 months, p = 0.001) or absence of bone pain (36.3 months, p = 0.004) was significantly longer compared to those who with <= 2 cycles or hemoglobin<12 g/dl or presence of bone paint, respectively. Conclusions This study has shown the outcomes of Ra-223 treatment in real-world practice, where the number of treatment cycles, baseline anemia and bone pain may be useful to predict OS in Ra-223 treatment.