From Denmark to Germany for Nuclear Medicine: Lu-177 PSMA Therapy in Berlin
Mr. Hansen’s story is shaped by years of tough decisions and limited options while treating prostate cancer at home. It’s also a reminder that when access runs out in one country, cross-border care can reopen the way forward, and sometimes make all the difference.
Usual Options Starting to Run Out
By the time the patient reached out for help, Mr. Hansen’s journey with prostate cancer had already stretched across years and continents of emotions. It began with brachytherapy, the kind of treatment many patients hope will be “the main chapter” of the story.
But cancer doesn’t always follow the neat arc we wish for. After about seven years, the disease progressed. More treatments followed: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and even an experimental approach often referred to as API 3500. Still, the diagnosis eventually became harder to ignore and heavier to carry: metastatic prostate carcinoma with liver and bone metastases.
What made things even more frustrating was that a promising therapy existed - Lu-177–labeled PSMA therapy, but he wasn’t eligible for it in his home country at that time. He wasn’t looking for a miracle. He was looking for a door that hadn’t closed.
Berlin As The Next Step
The decision to travel for treatment is rarely dramatic in the moment. It’s usually quiet. A few late-night searches. A conversation that ends with, “We need another plan.” A calendar that suddenly matters again.
Germany, and specifically Berlin, was suggested by Airomedical, offering access to nuclear medicine options that weren’t available to him back home. His treatment took place at Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, under the care of Prof. Dr. Stefan Dresel.
When he arrived, the numbers on paper matched how he felt physically: exhausted, worn down, and worried. His PSA was extremely high - 6800 µg/L, the kind of value that doesn’t feel like a lab result so much as a warning sign.
The 1st Cycle: Small Shifts Matter
Lu-177 PSMA therapy can sound technical from the outside, but the patient experience is often defined by something simpler: hope, patience, and waiting for the first sign that the body is responding.
His first session was in March 2023, with an administered activity of 6400 MBq. After that cycle, there was an immediate result, not because it solved everything, but because it proved that something was changing.
The PSA dropped from 6800 µg/L to 4625 µg/L after the first session. It was a laboratory response, yes, but also a psychological one. For many patients, that first downward step is a lifeline: proof that the treatment isn’t just happening to you, it’s doing something for you.
Three Sessions in Treating Cancer
Ms. Hansen continued with two more cycles in Berlin: May 2023 (5630 MBq) and July 2023 (5800 MBq). By the third session, the situation had become more nuanced, less about dramatic swings and more about understanding how the disease acted in different parts of the body.
After the third cycle, Prof. Dresel summarized the response in a way that felt both realistic and encouraging:
“The liver metastases showed regression, visibly decreasing in size. This improvement supported better lab tests and a more stable overall symptomatic picture. At the same time, bone lesions and lymph node findings were stable, neither shrinking significantly nor progressing. In oncology terms, this combination often describes stable disease, meaning the cancer is not actively advancing in those sites.”
The conclusion was clear and carefully stated: the patient responded to Lu-177 PSMA therapy in Germany and was advised to proceed with further sessions. Prof. S. Dresel also emphasized that the assessment after a fourth cycle would be more representative, helping to confirm the trend and guide next decisions.
For a patient who had already moved through multiple treatment lines, this mattered. Not because it promised certainty, but because it offered direction.
The Story Turns Back Toward Home
Medical travel is sometimes portrayed as a one-way road: leave your country, seek treatment elsewhere, and remain dependent on that system. But his story took a more hopeful turn.
As his response became visible, something changed on the home front as well. The same system that had once said “not eligible” began to reassess. After seeing that the therapy was working, local doctors in Denmark approved him for a fourth Lu-177 PSMA session.
That approval was more than paperwork. It was recognition of the response, of the need, and of the value of giving a patient access to the next step.
What This Journey Really Shows
If you strip away the medical terminology, this story is about timing and access. A patient with advanced prostate cancer, liver and bone metastases, and a PSA level that signaled aggressive disease found a treatment option when it wasn’t available at home. Three cycles later, there was measurable benefit: regression in the liver metastases, improved laboratory markers, and stability in other disease sites.
It's not a fairytale ending, nor is it meant to be. Instead, it's something more practical and, for many patients, more valuable: a reminder that when one treatment option fails, another may succeed, and that a documented response can unlock doors that were previously closed.
For Mr. Hansen, Berlin was not merely a destination; it was a bridge that offered him new options, renewed momentum, and the potential for ongoing care, with clearer evidence in hand.