New 'Microbead' Radiotherapy More Effective With Molecular Imaging

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2010) — Research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 57th Annual Meeting may change the way that a novel form of radiotherapy is set up and tested prior to treatment. This technique, known as radiomicrosphere therapy, involves the injection of tiny highly radioactive beads that "nestle up" with cancerous tumors and destroy them with precision. However, technologists and physicians must work together to carefully plan each patient's treatment using molecular imaging to ensure that the beads do not wander off into other areas of the body.

"Radiomicrosphere therapy guided by molecular imaging is an emerging area of radiotherapy and has the potential to target treatments for cancer patients," said Ron Young, C.N.M.T., principal researcher and clinical manager of nuclear medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. "This technique allows us to provide the most effective and individualized therapy with minimal complications for the patient."

Radiomicrosphere therapy can lead to unwanted damage to healthy tissues. Young emphasizes that those providing care must perform an imaging scan of patients to predict where these particles are going to travel and potentially destroy normal tissue.

source: Science Daily release