MADRID — Results presented Monday could expand the use of a Novartis therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, moving it from a treatment used after chemotherapy to one with demonstrated benefits beforehand as well.

The Phase 3 data, highlighted in a prime session here at the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology, also amount to another win for cancer therapies designed to deliver radiation directly to tumor cells. It’s a field that Novartis has poured investments into, and that is attracting interest from other pharma companies.

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The trial, called PSMAfore, enrolled patients with a type of metastatic prostate cancer whose disease had started to progress after taking a drug known as an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor, or ARPI. Patients were randomized to either receive a different ARPI or Novartis’ therapy, Pluvicto.

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