When “Dilbert” author Scott Adams recently publicly appealed for support for life-sustaining cancer treatments, the story gained national attention and raised several questions. medicine itself.
Adams, 67, revealed in May that he has an aggressive personality. prostate cancer It has spread beyond the prostate and is no longer responsive to standard treatments.
On Sunday, Adams asked President Trump via X to help him access a newly approved drug called Purvict.
Pluvicto, a relatively new type of targeted radiation therapy for advanced prostate cancer, is intended to slow progression. disease progression — However, some barriers may remain in terms of access, timing, and side effects.
“My healthcare provider, Kaiser of Northern California, has approved my application to receive the newly FDA-approved drug called Purvict,” Adams wrote in the post. “But they dropped the ball in scheduling a simple IV, and it doesn’t seem like they can fix that.”
“I’m rapidly declining. I’m going to ask President Trump if he can respond to Kaiser in Northern California and schedule an appointment for Monday. That would give me a chance to stay on this planet a little longer.”
On Sunday, President Trump shared a screenshot of Adams’ post on Truth Social with the comment, “That’s right!”
Kaiser Permanente provided the following statement to Fox News Digital.
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“Mr. Adams’ oncology team is working closely with Mr. Adams on the next steps in his cancer treatment, which are already underway. Approved by FDA Three years ago, Kaiser Permanente nuclear medicine and medical oncology experts treated more than 150 Lu-177 PSMA patients in Northern California alone. We know this medicine and this disease. ”
Neither the White House nor Mr. Adams immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Pluvicto, which contains the active ingredient lutetium Lu 177 bipibotide tetraxetane, is manufactured by New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Novartis AG.
Novartis told Fox News Digital that the drug delivers targeted ionizing radiation directly to tumor cells, with the goal of minimizing damage to healthy cells.
Dr. Alan Bryce, a medical oncologist and clinical director at City of Hope Phoenix, said the drug is called “radioligand therapy.”
“This involves a radioactive isotope, which is linked to a targeting molecule that delivers the isotope to prostate cancer cells,” he told Fox News Digital. “This way, we have the advantage of concentrating the active drug in the affected area. cancer tissue And the amount of drug delivered to healthy tissue is reduced. ”
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According to Bryce, Purvict is effective in both suppressing cancer and extending patients’ lives. “Successful control of cancer also means frequent improvement of symptoms. reduce pain And it gives the patient more energy,” he added.
Purvict is currently the only radioligand therapy approved for prostate cancer, Bryce said. “That makes it a good alternative attack vector compared to other options.”
The drug was approved by the FDA in March 2022 to treat adult patients with certain types of metastatic disease. prostate cancer — Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with high levels of prostate-specific membrane antigen positivity — Patients already receiving androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibitors (hormone blockers that prevent cancer growth) and taxane-based chemotherapy (to prevent cancer recurrence).
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As of 2025, this drug has also been approved for people who are receiving AR drugs and can delay chemotherapy.
Pluvicto is typically administered as an intravenous infusion in up to six doses every six weeks, depending on disease progression and patient tolerance to the drug.
Prvict’s lack of radioactive particles caused supply chain shortages in the past, but have since improved, according to Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Mark Siegel.
Pluvicto must be handled with care. tightly controlled environment Bryce blamed the radiation.
“This means it may not necessarily be available in every oncologist’s office and may only be available in certain clinics in some areas,” he said. “During the initial rollout, there were manufacturing issues that limited availability, but that is no longer an issue.”
Bryce said each dose must be manufactured and administered to a specific patient because the isotope decays over time and cannot be stored for future use.
In Adams’ case, the drug appears to have been approved, but scheduling was difficult, Bryce said.
“This may reflect the limitations of health infrastructure in local settings and points to the importance of systems that enable: provide care As quickly and efficiently as possible while remaining safe. ”
In clinical trials, the most common side effects of Pluvicto were fatigue, dry mouth, nausea, back painjoint pain, loss of appetite, and constipation, Novartis confirmed to Fox News Digital. These effects are usually mild to moderate.
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Some patients may also notice changes in blood test results, such as lower blood cell levels or lower levels of certain minerals, which your doctor can monitor during treatment.
Rarely, serious side effects can occur, such as bleeding problems, infections (such as sepsis), kidney damage, and blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolism), according to FDA prescribing information.
This medicine contains small amounts of radioactive material and must be handled carefully to minimize radiation exposure.
Do not use Pluvicto as it may affect your kidneys. pregnant The prescribing information warns because of the risk to the fetus.
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“Chemotherapy has more systemic side effects because Purvict targets only the affected tissue,” Siegel said.
Although it varies from patient to patient, Purvict is generally an easier drug to take than chemotherapy, Bryce said.
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According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. It is estimated that approximately 35,770 patients will die from this disease in 2025.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of: cancer-related deaths Increased among men in the United States, followed by lung cancer.
