Nuclear Medicine has long used radioactive iodine to treat thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism for over 50 years. Nuclear Medicine physicians have a long history of diagnosing and treating cancer patients.
With the recent clinical funding of Pluvicto (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan), a radioactive drug for prostate cancer, our departments are able to deliver life prolonging therapies to many patients with advanced prostate cancer. This has seen our therapy patient throughput grow by a factor of 5 in under a year in British Columbia. As this treatment is pending Health Canada Review for expanding indications into earlier points in disease, this may double again in under a year.
The last decade has seen massive expansions in our role in cancer therapy that have placed a strain on a limited number of trained professionals.
Clinically Funded Nuclear Medicine Cancer Treatments in Canada
- Liver Cancers: Y90 Theraspheres
- Neuroendocrine Cancers: Lutathera (lutetium Lu 177 dotatate)
- Thyroid Cancer: Iodine 131
- Prostate Cancer: Pluvicto (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan) and Xofigo (Ra-223 dichloride)
We are only scratching the surface of Theranostics
The story doesn’t end with prostate cancer. There are radioactive drugs in advanced stages of development for breast cancer, pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancers, kidney cancers.
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