Robert E. Reiter, MD, MBA

Robert E. Reiter, MD, MBA

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Robert E. Reiter, MD, MBA, is the Bing Professor of Urologic Oncology and a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Reiter also serves as the Director of the Prostate Cancer Program and of Urologic Research, as Chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology, and as Co-Director of the Genitourinary Oncology Program for the Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an internationally recognized expert in all areas of prostate cancer management and research. Dr. Reiter has a particular interest in the multidisciplinary management of men with high-risk prostate cancer, incorporating the latest in genomics, clinical trials, and precision medical therapies into treatment plans.

Dr. Reiter earned his medical degree and completed a residency in Urology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He then completed a residency in Urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Reiter subsequently completed a fellowship in Urologic Cancer at the National Cancer Institute. During his time there, he was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Urologic Oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Reiter has expertise in MRI-guided biopsies to diagnose prostate cancer and focal therapy to treat select individuals, as well as all forms of medical therapy. He was among the first to integrate functional MRI imaging and PSMA PET imaging into the diagnosis, surgical management,  and care of men with prostate cancer. He was also an early innovator in the field of robotic surgery and has completed more than 2,500 robotic prostatectomies. Dr. Reiter’s laboratory discovered the prostate stem cell antigen and developed antibodies to target this protein, which led to novel imaging and therapeutic approaches for prostate cancer currently in clinical trials. He has authored more than 250 papers and lectures nationally and internationally on all aspects of clinical care of men with prostate cancer.

Talks by Robert E. Reiter, MD, MBA

Management of Oligometastatic Disease

| Jul 2021

Robert E. Reiter, MD, the Bing Professor of Urology and Molecular Biology and Director of the Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses oligometastatic prostate cancer, explaining how to treat it and the long-term benefits of doing so. He describes oligometastatic prostate cancer (PCa) as an intermediate disease state characterized by limited disease (1-5 lesions). Dr. Reiter then shows evidence of the oligometastatic disease state through data suggesting that if you can identify patients with oligometastases and have a treatment plan for them then you can have a great impact on their OS. He discusses the impact of imaging on defining oligometastases through a study on the distribution of lesions in men with BCR, finding that as PSA increases so does the range of areas that PSMA detects lesions within; a UCLA study comparing PSMA and conventional imaging (CI), finding that 21% of cases showed non-concordance between the two methods for node-positive PCa; and a pathologic assessment of PSMA PET in the detection of nodal disease, showing that PSMA PET still misses small positive lymph nodes in about 20% of patients. Dr. Reiter continues with a review of clinical trials in Oligometastatic disease. He shows data from the SABR-COMET trial suggesting that treating oligometastatic disease in many different cancer types did improve overall survival and progression-free survival in the long term, and the STOMP trial, finding that administration of SABR to patients with oligometastatic disease defined by choline has a beneficial effect on PCa outcomes. Dr. Reiter concludes with the ORIOLE study which suggests that patients in whom all lesions can be found and treated will have significantly better outcomes than others, and a study on curative-intent metastasis-directed therapies for molecularly-defined oligorecurrent PCa using PSMA finding that median time to progression could be extended to 17 months.

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Neoadjuvant Trials in High Risk Prostate Cancer: A Must Do for the Field

Neoadjuvant Trials in High Risk Prostate Cancer: A Must Do for the Field

| Apr 2021

Robert E. Reiter, MD, MBA, Bing Professor of Urology and Molecular Biology and Director of the Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Principal Investigator of UCLA’s SPORE (Specialized Program in Research Excellence) program, argues for supporting neoadjuvant trials in high-risk prostate cancer as a key way to improve treatment results. He explains that ⅓ of high-risk patients die from their cancer, citing this as evidence that high-risk prostate cancer management must improve. Dr. Reiter then reviews several trials, beginning with CaLGB 90203, a neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy study which found that over the course of ten years neoadjuvant patients experienced an 80% survival probability, while patients who were treated with only surgery experienced a 74% survival probability. He analyzes an assortment of phase II trials exploring whether more intensive androgen ablation can improve the short-term results of, for example, pathologic complete responses. These trials found that the complete response rates increased from 4% to 14% over the course of 12 weeks with no biochemical recurrences. Dr. Reiter continues by drawing attention to the current phase 3 PROTEUS trial, which should clarify whether or not pathologic complete response is a valid endpoint. He concludes with a discussion of the beneficial findings of pure translational neoadjuvant studies.

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PSMA PET Gallium Scan Approved by FDA

PSMA PET Gallium Scan Approved by FDA

| Dec 2020

E. David Crawford, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Grand Rounds in Urology, interviews Robert E. Reiter, MD, Bing Professor of Urology and Molecular Biology, Director of the Prostate Cancer Program, and Director of Urologic Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, on yesterday’s FDA approval of PSMA PET gallium scans for use in prostate cancer patients at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Reiter, one of the investigators on the study that led to this, discusses how the approval, which was a joint effort between teams at UCLA and UCSF, is the first approval of a PSMA targeting agent in the United States, and will give new, potentially more effective options for urologists to stage prostate cancer for both newly-diagnosed and recurrent disease, leading to earlier detection of both metastatic disease and sites of recurrence, as well as improved overall management of the disease. They also discuss costs and potential insurance coverage at the currently-approved UCLA/UCSF sites and beyond, next steps for broader approval, and the implications of using PSMA PET in a theranostics approach to diagnosis and treatment of mCRPC and oligometastatic prostate cancer, as well as other disease states.

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Molecular Imaging For Staging and Advanced Disease – Axumin and PSMA

Molecular Imaging For Staging and Advanced Disease – Axumin and PSMA

| Jun 2020

Robert E. Reiter, MD, Bing Professor of Urology and Molecular Biology, Director of the Prostate Cancer Program, and Director of Urologic Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the benefits of PSMA imaging in the context of biochemical recurrence. He reviews data from an Australian and an American study which both depict a positive correlation between PSA levels and PSMA prostate cancer detection rates, as well as high sensitivities for detection of recurrence based on pathologic confirmation. He then discusses the results of a study which compared PSMA with Axumin and found PSMA to be more than twice as effective in all areas but the prostate bed, which is most likely due to PSMA being excreted through the bladder. He argues that PSMA imaging can produce between a 29% and 76% change in prostate cancer management and allows for greater precision in treatment, resulting in fewer occurrences of unnecessary radiation therapy and long term systemic therapy.

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