Nuclear Medicine to Offer New PLUVICTO® Therapy for Prostate Cancer

VCU Health Division of Nuclear Medicine has been approved to use PLUVICTO, an FDA-approved, radioligand therapy for the treatment of PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (PSMA+ mCRPC), a form of prostate cancer that can’t be controlled with hormone therapy. PLUVICTO is the first, and only targeted radioligand therapy for adult patients with PSMA+ mCRPC. VCU Health will be one of only two health care providers in the Greater Richmond area to offer treatment with PLUVICTO.

The Nuclear Medicine Division, under the leadership of Jayashree Parekh, M.D., will offer PLUVICTO as a treatment to patients with PSMA+ mCRPC after treatment with androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibition and taxane-based chemotherapy. PLUVICTO is comprised of two key components: lutetium-177, a cytotoxic radionuclide, and PSMA-617, a PSMA-targeting ligand. PLUVICTO emits beta radiation that targets the PSMA-positive cancer cells, which limits damage to other cells and improves outcomes for patients.

According to the American Cancer Society, after skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States. It’s the second-leading cause of cancer death of American men, behind only lung cancer. The American Cancer Society projects an estimated 299,010 new cases and 35,250 deaths for 2024.

The life-changing therapy, PLUVICTO, is offered as outpatient intravenous infusion every six weeks for six treatments.

3 VCU Radiologists Named to Top Docs List

VCU Radiologists named to inaugural list of Virginia’s Top Doctors by Virginia Business

More than 10,000 medical professionals throughout Virginia cast their ballots for the first ever 2024 Top Doctors list by Virginia Business. Three VCU Health radiologists are among those named to the list of diagnostic radiology specialists in Virginia:

Ann S. Fulcher, M.D.

Jill M. Bruno, D.O.

Priti Shah, M.D.

Also among the doctors who made the diagnostic radiology and general radiology lists are five former VCU Radiology residents Drs. Rakesh Agarwaal, John Kuta, Janae Johnson, Jeff VanderSand, and Matthew Doherty.

Virginia Business is a publication dedicated to covering economic activity in every sector, including healthcare, and every region of the state.

VCU Radiology Stands Out at RSNA 2023

Faculty Elevate Radiology Education and Research at RSNA Annual Meeting

The Radiological Society of North America’s 2023 Annual Meeting (RSNA 2023) brought in over 40,000 registrants and featured more than 850 scientific papers, more than 1,400 scientific posters, more than 1,600 education exhibits and more than 300 educational courses. Those impressive numbers include contributions from VCU Department of Radiology faculty and residents, including Abdominal Imaging specialists Drs. Laura Carucci, Neeraj Lalwani and Ryan Clayton, Cardiothoracic Imaging specialists Drs. Shaimaa Fadl, Mark Parker and John Grizzard, Diagnostic Medical Physics physicists Drs. Pei-Jan Paul Lin and Frank Corwin, and 3rd-year Radiology resident Dr. Caleb Hubbard. Following are summaries of faculty activity at RSNA 2023:

Laura Carucci, M.D., FACR, FSAR, professor and abdominal imaging section chief, made significant contributions to the field of radiology this year and we wanted to highlight some of her latest work. She reviewed GI educational exhibits and chaired the Radiographics GI expert panel meeting. As a member, she attended the Radiographics reviewers meeting and the ACR Appropriateness Criteria committee meeting.

Neeraj Lalwani, M.D., DABR, FSAR, sat on the RSNA/Radiographics Multisystem Radiology educational exhibit review panel and attended the RadioGraphics Reviewer breakfast. Lalwani also participated in shortlisting submissions for the RadioGraphic's invite.

Ryan Clayton, M.D., presented, "Go with the Flow: Imaging of Urinary Tract Augments, Reconstructions, and Non-Cystectomy Diversions in Adult Patients." The educational exhibit researched by Drs. Ryan Clayton and Laura Carucci offered teaching points to raise awareness among radiologists of surgical techniques and alterations made to the GU and GI tracts to help recognize expected postoperative anatomy, to facilitate greater diagnostic accuracy of postoperative complications, and avoid potential pitfalls.

Shaimaa Fadl, M.D., assistant professor and cardiothoracic imaging and emergency radiology specialist, presented “Mimics of pulmonary embolism (PE),” which reviewed the technical, anatomical, and patient-related pitfalls in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, and illustrated the common and uncommon pulmonary artery pathologies that can mimic pulmonary embolism. Fadl also discussed an imaging approach for the diagnosis and management of patients with different pulmonary artery pathologies. Work for the educational exhibit, conducted by Drs. Caleb Hubbard (3rd-year VCU Radiology resident), Jitesh Ahuja, Jonathan Revels, John Grizzard, and Shaimaa Fadl, represents a collaboration between VCU Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and NYU Langone Health.

Mark Parker, M.D., FACR, professor, cardiothoracic imaging co-section chief and lung cancer screening program director, presented, "The Lateral Chest Radiograph: Test Your Knowledge & Skills," which was one of three case-based lectures, as part of the Pearls and Pitfalls in Chest Radiography educational session. The case-based lectures, presented by experienced thoracic radiologists, focused on giving attendees an expanded appreciation and skill in the interpretation of chest radiographs.

Pei-Jan Paul Lin, Ph.D., professor, Division of Diagnostic Medical Physics Chair and Chief Medical Physicist for VCU Health, chaired the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) committee meeting for Task Group No. 355 - Characterization of Contrast-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) Optimized Interventional Angiographic Fluoroscopy Equipment. Joining Dr. Lin at the meeting as a voting member of the task force was Frank Corwin, Ph.D., assistant professor and medical physicist. Task Group No. 355 activities included investigating and describing the Contrast-to-Noise Ratio optimized fluoroscopy curves (CNROF Curves), designing considerations for phantoms employed for CNROF Curve evaluation, and evaluating existing phantoms for performance testing of CNROF systems.

VCU Diagnostic Medical Physics Faculty Presents at Yale

Dr. Monica Ghita Tapped for Ultra-low Dose CT Chest Protocol for Suspected Child Abuse

Monica Ghita, Ph.D., DABR, assistant professor, VCU Division of Diagnostic Medical Physics invited by the Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital Diagnostic Medical Physics group to join their annual seminar series as a guest speaker. Ghita's presentation, “Development and optimization of an ultra-low radiation dose CT chest protocol for child abuse" focused on research conducted in collaboration with Gregory Vorona, M.D., Pediatric Imaging Specialist with the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU and the Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine.

The multi-year, multidisciplinary project utilized an anthropomorphic infant phantom with simulated rib fractures modeled from real child abuse victims presented at VCU Health. The annual seminar series brings in speakers from across Yale, as well as national and international experts in diagnostic medical physics to discuss innovation, research, technical protocol management, and topics in quality and safety.

Radiology Fellowship Programs Draw Stellar Candidates for 2024-25

We are pleased to announce that our impressive fellowship recruitment for 2024-25 includes five members from our radiology residency program.