The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first commercially available prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) imaging agent in connection with PET scans to improve the identification and management of patients with suspected metastasis of recurrent prostate cancer. 

Roughly half of the men who have been treated for prostate cancer may see a recurrence of the disease within the first decade after treatment. The disease reappearance is usually found via a rise in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. But to date, imaging modalities have not been able to readily identify and localize where cancer has spread. This new agent targets the protein PSMA to aid in detecting the location of the disease.

The new imaging agent will be "available immediately to imaging centers in parts of the mid-Atlantic and southern regions and is expected to be broadly available throughout the U.S. by year-end."