We will review the evolution of knowledge of the biology of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and how the translation to therapy has also developed. The usual key to discovery is a realistic model for experimentation and hypothesis testing. This is especially true for the prostate where the human prostate differs significantly from that of other often used species for research models. We will emphasize the genetic characterization of PSMA, The nature of the PSMA protein and its role as a carboxypeptidase, with differing important substrates and products in different tissues. We will give special prominence to its importance as a target for imaging and therapy in prostate cancer and its under-developed role for imaging and targeting the neovasculature of tumors other than prostate cancer. Lastly we will bring attention to its importance in other non-prostatic tissues.
Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 2018 Apr 19 [Epub ahead of print]
Denise S O'Keefe, Dean J Bacich, Steve S Huang, Warren D Heston
Dept of Urology, Univ Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio., Imaging Institute and Cancer Biology Dept., Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic., Cleveland Clinical, United States.