Uncovering blood mutation risks in advanced prostate cancer therapies

Andrea Miyahira hosts Asli Munzur to discuss a study examining clonal hematopoiesis risk with lutetium PSMA therapy. Using blood samples from the TheraP trial, her team compared lutetium PSMA versus cabazitaxel, employing ultra-deep DNA sequencing to detect mutations in both cell-free DNA and white blood cells. As lutetium moves into earlier disease settings with longer life expectancy, long-term hematologic risks become increasingly important. 

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The 2025 Novartis Oncology Young Canadian Investigators Awards (NOYCIA) was held on June 1st in Chicago during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. 

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For Advanced Prostate Cancer, This Drug Offers Hope. Also Risks: A UBC student’s research could help doctors use the promising but costly new medicine.

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ASCO® 2025 Insights: Clonal Hematopoiesis in mCRPC Receiving 177Lu-PSMA-617 or Cabazitaxel: A Post-Hoc Analysis of the TheraP Trial

By 2025 ASCO® Annual Meeting Insights Hub FEATURING Aslı Munzur

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Oral presentation by Dr Asli Munzur. Clonal haematopoiesis occurs when there is abnormal expansion of clonal hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cells that occurs with age or via cellular mutation and is a condition that can lead to blood cancers, cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. Dr Asli Munzur presented fundings from a sub-study of the TheraP trial which showed that treatment with the radioligand therapy LuPSMA was associated with a higher incidence of clonal hematopoiesis mutations compared to cabazitaxel chemotherapy. While more research is needed, the study highlighted the importance of understanding the risks of hematological conditions (eg blood cancers) when considering LuPSMA treatment.

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ASCO 2025 | Clonal hematopoiesis monitoring as a future biomarker in mCRPC

Aslı Doğa Munzur, BSc, Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver, Canada, speaks on the potential of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) as a biomarker to predict future risk of blood disorders or secondary malignancies in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Although it is currently unknown what triggers CH to undergo malignant transformation, more data from the ongoing Phase II trial (NCT03392428) will shed further light on what CH means in terms of patient selection and risk stratification before therapy. This interview took place during the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting in Chicago, IL.

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