Illustration: Kim Ryu for Endpoints News

A ra­dioac­tive prostate can­cer ther­a­py is a last life­line for pa­tients. No­var­tis can't make enough of it

Al­fre­do Na­já Domin­gos’ prostate can­cer was spread­ing. The ma­lig­nant cells per­me­at­ed his bones, kid­ney, lungs and liv­er, and in De­cem­ber, his on­col­o­gist told him there was no point in con­tin­u­ing chemother­a­py treat­ment.

But there was a new treat­ment he could try: a tar­get­ed ra­dio­ther­a­py called Plu­vic­to — if he could get it in time. Both Mof­fitt Can­cer Cen­ter and Mayo Clin­ic in Flori­da, not too far from Domin­gos and his fam­i­ly, said he would have to wait be­tween three and a half and four months to get the treat­ment. His wife, No­ra Flor, said she and her sis­ter made calls to at least 30 cen­ters across the US look­ing for the drug.

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