Theranostics is an emerging form of personalised imaging and treatment in the field of nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine – commonly known as molecular imaging – uses a radioactive tracer and a “camera” in a specialised scanner to detect sites of disease. Read more about nuclear medicine.
Theranostics combines the diagnosis and visualisation of a specific cancer and therapy or treatment directed to the specific cancer type. The term is a combination of therapeutic and diagnostics.
Diagnostic phase
To identify sites of cancer in the body, a small amount of a radioactive substance (a radiotracer) is injected into your body through a cannula placed into a vein in your arm.
The radiotracer then travels through your bloodstream around your body. The radiotracer is designed to attach to specific types of cancer cells, such as prostate cancer cells, that may have spread (metastasised) to other parts of your body. The radiotracer doesn’t damage the cancer cells but enables them to be seen on a PET scanner. Radiologists or nuclear medicine specialists are highly trained doctors who specialise in interpreting these images. They'll use these images to help decide whether the treatment is right for you and help you choose your best treatment.
Therapeutic phase
Once cancer cells have been identified, they can then be destroyed with a more powerful injectable radioactive material (medical isotope). The isotope is combined with a protein that seeks out the cancer cells. It can then deliver the radiation “payload” to the cancer cells and cause cancer cell death by damaging the cancer DNA.
A similar scanning approach can be used later on to see how well the treatment has worked.
