FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Novartis said on Monday that its targeted radiotherapy Pluvicto was shown to slow progression of a certain type of prostate cancer, raising the prospect of treatment in an earlier disease stage for a drug technology that the drugmaker has pioneered.

The Swiss drugmaker reported a late-stage trial showed a "clinically meaningful benefit" in progression-free survival with a positive trend in overall survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer that still responds to standard hormone therapy.

Almost all of those patients ultimately progress to a form of cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy, a setting where Pluvicto is already approved, the company added.

"These data suggest using (Pluvicto) in an earlier disease setting," Novartis said, adding that this could address a significant unmet need.

Novartis only provided a brief summary of trial results and said details would be presented at a medical conference and that it would likely request regulatory approval for wider use in the second half of the year.

Pluvicto is part of a class of drugs that combines cell-killing radioactive particles with molecules that attach themselves to tumours, where Novartis has a leading position.

The drug saw first-quarter revenue gain 20% to $371 million.