GE Healthcare is proud to provide cutting-edge molecular imaging solutions that enable and increase access to precision health and theranostics to help improve patient outcomes across care areas, including prostate cancer – the most prevalent cancer in men and the third most prevalent cancer overalli.

Where most medical therapies are designed with the ‘average’ patient in mind, theranostics brings together diagnoses and treatment in one application, providing a more targeted and personalized therapy than ever before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical adoption of theranostics slowed due to a delay in elective procedures and the increased risk posed to its often-immunocompromised patients. However, a surge in demand for theranostics infrastructureiii is now anticipated following the U.S. Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of several new drugs and therapies. This includes the diagnostic tracer Gallium-68 PSMA-11 and therapy drug Lutetium-177 PSMA-617, which are key to applying theranostics in prostate cancer.

“Healthcare is timely and personal – and its delivery should be too,” explains Jean-Luc Procaccini, President & CEO, Molecular Imaging & Computed Tomography, GE Healthcare. “Theranostics has the potential to transform care from a look at the ‘average’ patient to a precise look at ‘each’ individual. Already, it is providing hope to late-stage prostate cancer patients by aiding with the diagnosis of the disease, the accurate quantification of its progression, and the delivery of targeted, personalized therapies – all in the same session. And soon, we hope to see it adopted earlier in the disease care pathway and across oncology to benefit more patients around the world.”

To prepare for the creation of dedicated theranostics centers, SNMMI and related international molecular imaging societies recently published a new guide for healthcare systems globallyiii. Focusing on safety protocols and operational procedures, the guide provides a framework that highlights best practices that can be applied across care areas.

“Nuclear medicine is entering a new age of precision theranostics, in which next-generation alpha- and beta-labeled radiotherapeutics are tailored to individual cancer patients using the latest diagnostic PET radiopharmaceuticals,” explains Dr. Peter Scott, Associate Professor of Radiology, Division Director of Nuclear Medicine, University of Michigan. “With the FDA approval of a new PSMA-agent for treatment of prostate cancer, the future is here. Patients, their families and referring physicians are all demanding access to theranostics, creating an unprecedented demand for higher and higher amounts of radioactive metals. The only way to meet the global need for PET radionuclides like Gallium-68 and Copper-64 is through commercial solid-target solutions suitable for routine use.”