About

Jeremie Calais is an Associate Professor at the Ahmanson Translational Theranostics Division of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA. He received his MD degree from the University of Paris-Diderot in 2010 and trained in nuclear medicine and cancer imaging at the Henri Becquerel Cancer Center of the University of Rouen. He was board certified by the French Society of Nuclear Medicine in 2014. His work focuses on improving cancer patient outcomes by translating and applying novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, utilizing PET/CT imaging for cancer phenotyping, radiation therapy planning, and therapy response assessment. Dr. Calais leads the clinical research program of Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics at UCLA, which combines radionuclide therapy and imaging. His research is driven by the adoption of PET/CT and the development of Theranostics, a field that integrates tumor-specific targeted radionuclide imaging and therapy. His program involves investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored studies using targeted radionuclide imaging and therapy, with a focus on translatable radiolabeled theranostic pairs for cancer diagnosis and treatment. He collaborates closely with clinical faculty across multiple departments at UCLA and with national and international partners. His team is conducting clinical trials to evaluate the impact of PSMA PET imaging and PSMA radionuclide therapy on prostate cancer care and outcomes, including a joint submission with UCSF for an academic NDA for 68Ga-PSMA-11. Recently, his research has expanded to exploratory studies of FAPI PET targeting tumor stroma in various cancers, exploring new promising targets for nuclear Theranostics.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Nuclear medicine
• Oncology
• Radiology
• Pathology
• Urology
• Surgery
• Biology
• Engineering
• Cancer research
• Immunology
• Medical physics
• Engineering ethics

Selected publications

• Assessment of PSMA PET/CT derived predictive markers for ¹⁷⁷ Lu-PSMA-617 treatment outcomes: Results from the U.S. Expanded-Access program.

  Journal of Clinical Oncology · 2025-05-28 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  5079 Background: 177 Lu-PSMA-617 (Lu-PSMA) contributes to prolong progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients who progressed after chemotherapy. Pretherapeutic prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET/CT information can be used to predict Lu-PSMA therapy response patterns and outcomes, with various quantitative and visual methods proposed. We aimed to test various proposed PSMA PET/CT-derived outcome predictors in the U.S. expanded-access program (EAP) cohort. Methods: Patients enrolled in the EAP (NCT04825652) for Lu-PSMA at 3 institutions with available pretherapeutic PSMA PET/CT and outcomes were included in this analysis. Quantitative analysis was performed for all tumor lesions on PSMA PET/CT with semi-automatically contouring. Total tumor volume (TV), total tumor SUVmean, total tumor SUVmax, total lesion uptake (TLU = TV * SUVmean), total lesion quotient (TLQ = TV / SUVmean), and quantitative PSMA PET tumor–to–salivary gland ratio (qPSG: high, ≥ 1.5; intermediate, 0.5–1.5; low, ≤ 0.5) were calculated for each patient. For visual analysis, visual PSG (vPSG: high, most of the lesions showed higher uptake than the parotid glands; intermediate, neither low nor high; low, most of the lesions showed lower uptake than the parotid glands) and heterogeneity and intensity of tumors (HIT: 1, SUVmax < 15; 2, 15–79 with heterogeneous intensity; 3, 15–79 with homogeneous intensity; 4, ≥ 80) scores were used for assessment. Outcomes included a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) PFS, and OS. We evaluated the predictive performance of each model using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and assessed their performance with the concordance index (c-index). Results: In total, 88 patients who received Lu-PSMA within the EAP between May 2021 and March 2022 were eligible and included in this analysis. For the PSA PFS, the total tumor SUVmean achieved the highest c-index of 0.678 (HR 0.91 [95% CI, 0.85–0.97], p = 0.004), followed by the total tumor SUVmax with a c-index of 0.640 (HR 0.99 [95% CI, 0.99–1.00], p = 0.034). For OS, the TLQ achieved the highest c-index of 0.658 (HR 1.01 [95% CI, 1.00–1.01], p < 0.001), followed by the total tumor SUVmean with a c-index of 0.634 (HR 0.89 [95% CI, 0.83–0.96], p = 0.004). The HIT score showed the third highest c-index of 0.632; however, when using score 1 as the reference, the HR did not exhibit a sequential trend across ordinal categories as anticipated. Conclusions: Quantitative analysis outperformed visual analysis in predicting the outcome of mCRPC with Lu-PSMA therapy in the EAP cohort. Total tumor SUVmean was identified as the most robust predictor for PSA PFS, while TLQ showed promise as a predictor for OS. Incorporating these predictors into clinical decision-making for pre-Lu-PSMA therapy could aid in patient selection and treatment planning. Clinical trial information: NCT04825652 .

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• OA13.03 RYZ101 (225Ac-DOTATATE) + Carboplatin + Etoposide + Atezolizumab in Somatostatin Receptor-Expressing Extensive-Stage SCLC

  Journal of Thoracic Oncology · 2025-10-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• PSMA/FDG discordance: 24-hour [177Lu]-PSMA-617 SPECT versus 60-minute [68Ga]-PSMA-11 PET

  European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging · 2025-07-24 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• 177Lutetium-PSMA Neoadjuvant to Ablative Radiotherapy for Oligorecurrent Prostate Cancer: Primary Endpoint Analysis of the Phase II LUNAR Randomized Trial

  International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics · 2025-09-01 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Biomarkers to optimize PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

  Frontiers in Oncology · 2025-08-20 · 5 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Although the recently approved prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligand therapy (RLT) [ 177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 has improved outcomes for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), not all patients respond optimally to this treatment; even measuring response accurately can be difficult. Moreover, there is currently a lack of validated prognostic and predictive biomarkers for [ 177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 treatment in this patient population. There is, therefore, a growing need to identify biomarkers to help optimize patient selection for [ 177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 and guide therapy decision-making. This review explores the landscape of emerging clinical, molecular, and imaging biomarkers, and their potential utility as prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers in the context of [ 177 Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 treatment for patients with mCRPC.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Prognostic Value of AI-Assisted Lesion Tracking on End-of-Treatment PSMA PET in mCRPC Patients Treated with ¹⁷⁷ Lu-PSMA: A Retrospective, Single-Center Study

  Journal of Nuclear Medicine · 2025-09-25 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study aimed to explore the prognostic value of the artificial intelligence–assisted lesion tracking applied to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with PSMA radiopharmaceutical therapy. <b>Methods:</b> TRAQinform IQ was applied to baseline and end-of-treatment ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA-11 PET scans from 20 patients with mCRPC treated with ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617. Lesion response parameters and the TRAQinform Profile score—designed for early treatment response assessment—were generated. Survival analyses were performed. <b>Results:</b> A higher percentage of “new” lesions was associated with a shorter overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio, 1.03; <i>P</i> = 0.002), whereas a higher percentage of “disappeared” lesions was linked to improved OS (hazard ratio, 0.98; <i>P</i> = 0.028). Patients with a TRAQinform Profile score of 2.7 or greater had a shorter OS than those with a score of less than 2.7 (10.9 mo vs. 44.3 mo; <i>P</i> = 0.027). <b>Conclusion:</b> Artificial intelligence–assisted lesion-tracking analysis of PSMA PET is prognostic for OS in patients with mCRPC undergoing PSMA radiopharmaceutical therapy.

  PublisherDOI

• LBA90 Prospective randomized phase II trial of 177Lutetium-PSMA therapy neoadjuvant to stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for recurrent oligo-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (LUNAR NCT05496959)

  Annals of Oncology · 2025-09-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• PSMA PET Imaging in the Management of Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Treated with Radioligand Therapy

  Targeted Oncology · 2025-05-26 · 2 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Despite an evolving treatment landscape for people with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, prognosis for this patient population remains poor. Prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography (PSMA PET) imaging may be used to identify patients with PSMA-positive (and no significant PSMA-negative) metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who could benefit from PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy. As the PSMA PET imaging and treatment landscape expands, there is a growing need for guidance and greater utilization of PSMA-targeted tracers and radioligand therapies to improve outcomes for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. This review discusses the current clinical considerations of PSMA PET, including the various imaging agents available and how best to identify patients eligible for PSMA PET imaging and subsequent PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy. This review also examines opportunities to mitigate discordant findings, as well as considerations around the standardization of reporting of PSMA PET imaging, key gaps in the evidence base, and guidance around the use of PSMA PET in clinical and research settings.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Clinical Impact of Changes in Tumor Uptake and Volume on PSMA PET/CT During [ ¹⁷⁷ Lu]Lu-PSMA Therapy in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

  Journal of Nuclear Medicine · 2025-10-30

  article

  Although tumor volume and new lesions (NLs) have been investigated previously as measures of response, the clinical impact of changes in tumor uptake on prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET remains largely unknown. <b>Methods:</b> This multicenter retrospective study investigated the clinical impact of changes in tumor uptake and volume on PSMA PET during [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The primary outcomes were the associations of changes in SUV_max (ΔSUV_max) and SUV_mean(ΔSUV_mean), changes in total tumor volume (ΔTTV), and occurrence of NLs with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival (PSA-PFS) and overall survival (OS). The study included patients with mCRPC who received [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA between 2014 and 2019. PSMA PET/CT was performed at baseline and after 2 cycles of therapy. Whole-body analyses (SUV_max, SUV_mean, TTV, and NLs) were performed and calculated using qPSMA software. <b>Results:</b> In total, 124 patients with mCRPC (median age, 73 y; interquartile range, 67–76 y) were included in the study. Whole-body ΔTTV and the occurrence of NLs were significantly associated with shorter PSA-PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 5.7; 95% CI, 3.59–9.06; and HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.4–1.8; <i>P</i> &lt; 0.0001) and with OS (HR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.61–3.43; and HR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1–1.4; <i>P</i> &lt; 0.001). Patient-based analysis showed that ΔSUV_max and ΔSUV_mean were not associated with outcome (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.99–1.00; <i>P</i> = 0.30; and HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.99–1.00; <i>P</i> = 0.11). Region-based analysis found that only ΔSUV_max in visceral lesions was significantly associated with PSA-PFS (<i>P</i> = 0.007) but not with OS. <b>Conclusion:</b> Only ΔTTV and the occurrence of NLs provided significant prognostic value and should be considered when evaluating treatment response to [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA therapy.

  PublisherDOI

• Genomic and Transcriptomic Profiling of Radiation Resistant, Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer

  International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics · 2025-09-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Johannes Czernin

  245 shared

• Wolfgang P. Fendler

  University of Duisburg-Essen

  207 shared

• Matthias Eiber

  144 shared

• Ken Herrmann

  136 shared

• Matthew B. Rettig

  119 shared

• Thomas A. Hope

  University of California System

  115 shared

• Andrei Gafita

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  86 shared

• Robert E. Reiter

  85 shared

Labs

• Theranostics Clinical Research ProgramPI

Awards & honors

• Honorary Board Member, SNMMI Correlative Imaging Council (CI…
• Committee Member, Prostate Theranostics and Imaging Centre o…