Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40522432›Full record

ArticleOncology and therapy2025

Drug Utilisation of Radium-223 Under Routine Clinical Practice (DIRECT) in Europe: A Post-Authorisation Safety Study.

Rachel Weinrib, Joan Fortuny, David Martinez, Bianca Kollhorst, Ulrike Haug, Astrid Kousholt, Vera Ehrenstein, Peter Iversen, Jann Mortensen, Dianne Bosch and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Oncology and therapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Radium - from discovery to the present day - narrative review.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Rachel WeinribDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology and Risk Management, RTI Health Solutions, Av. Diagonal, 605, 9-1, 08028, Barcelona, Spain. rweinrib@rti.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7753-0996
Joan FortunyDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology and Risk Management, RTI Health Solutions, Av. Diagonal, 605, 9-1, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1593-3124
David MartinezDepartment of Biostatistics, RTI Health Solutions, Barcelona, Spain.
Bianca KollhorstDepartment of Biometry and Data Management, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology (BIPS), Bremen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5964-954X
Ulrike HaugDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology (BIPS), Bremen, Germany.
Astrid KousholtDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University-Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-2118-8309
Vera EhrensteinDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University-Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3415-3254
Peter IversenDepartment of Nuclear Medicine and PET Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2455-5142
Jann MortensenDepartment of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rigshospitalet-Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1399-8995
Dianne BoschDepartment of Urology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Malou KuppenDepartment of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW Research Institute for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Federica PisaDepartments of Epidemiology and Oncology, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0459-2616
Zdravko VassilevDepartments of Epidemiology and Oncology, Bayer US, Whippany, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4902-6784

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionRadium-223 is indicated for adults with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and symptomatic bone metastases, without visceral metastases, who progress after at least (≥) two lines of or are ineligible for other systemic therapies (besides luteinising hormone-releasing hormone analogues). Radium-223 is contraindicated in combination with abiraterone acetate and prednisone/prednisolone. Point 2 and the contraindication above were added to the 2018 European Medicines Agency (EMA) label. In the observational cohort study reported here, we evaluated compliance with the 2018 revised label.

methodsThe proportion of patients with mCRPC who initiated radium-223 in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark was analysed descriptively before (2013-2017) and after (2019-2020) the label change, allowing ≥ 6 months of follow-up. No a priori hypotheses were evaluated.

resultsA total of 1070 patients were included in this observational cohort study (before/after the label change: Netherlands [243/53]; Germany [580/71]; Denmark [60/63]). Radium-223 use with abiraterone acetate or other systemic mCRPC therapies was limited and decreased after the label change in the Netherlands and Germany; in Denmark, combined use was not observed before the label change and was observed only rarely after the label change. After the label change, radium-223 use without ≥ 2 prior lines of systemic mCRPC therapy decreased in all countries, despite remaining relatively common in the Netherlands and Germany.

conclusionsRadium-223 use in combination with abiraterone acetate or other systemic mCRPC therapies largely aligned with the 2018 EMA label change. However, after the label change, radium-223 use without ≥ 2 prior lines of systemic mCRPC therapy remained relatively common in the Netherlands and Germany, possibly because radium-223 was previously recommended as first-line treatment for frail patients, and doctors still may consider it for use in these cases. We could not assess patients' eligibility for other systemic mCRPC therapies; therefore, these findings may partly reflect radium-223 on-label use in patients with contraindications for other systemic therapies. EMA STUDY IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: EUPAS37163.

Indexed as

Drug utilisation studyMetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC)Post-authorisation safety studyRadium-223

Identifiers

PMID40522432
PMCPMC12378252

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.