FDG PET whole-body scans of a patient suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and treated with 131I-rituximab, before treatment (left) and three months after the start of treatment (right). There has been no recurrence at two years’ follow-up. (Courtesy Prof Harvey Turner, Perth, Australia)
In the area of therapy, two drugs where recently made available for the patients in the same indication. The combination of an antibody with a radionuclide demonstrated that malignant tumors can be specifically targeted and destroyed. These two new radiotherapeutics are able to cure chemotherapy resistant non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients in a large number of cases. This probably represents the first example of a long series of new radiotherapeutic drugs. In the near future and based on the same principle, t will be imperative to develop new molecules targeting each a specific cancer type.
This combination of diagnostic and therapy, sometimes called theranostics approach, using functional imaging, opens a paved way for the personalized medicine development.
Unfortunately, although industry has fully understood the interest of the diagnostic aspect of Nuclear Medicine, it can nowadays not invest in all areas. Therapy based on radiopharmaceuticals is still considered economically too risky and a second priority by almost all investors in the world.
