Precise Treatment Can Save Lives

Dr Dharmendra Harichandra, Nuclear Medicine Physician at Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC)

Nuclear medicine is now in the era of precision medicine where treatments are tailored according to the patient’s cancer and condition. Consultant nuclear medicine physician at SJMC Dr Dharmendra Harichandra  says, “Nuclear Medicine technology allows not only the early detection of cancer and the extent of the cancer in a person, but it allows for a continuous assessment of the patient’s response to a particular treatment regimen.”

He explains the practice of using a standardised treatment plan for all patients of a particular cancer is slowly dying out. In the future, every patient’s treatment will be tailored specifically to each case, with nuclear medicine scans playing an important role in fulfilling this objective.

Besides this, nuclear medicine allows for a semiquantitative analysis of the disease state, and this allows for more precise and objective evaluation of the disease and the treatment response. For instance, prior to treatment, a tumour will pick up FDG, a radioactive glucose according to its metabolic activity. The more active the tumour is, the higher the glucose uptake. This glucose avid disease focus has a greater potential to grow and spread. This activity can be measured on the PET/CT scan. 

After the course of treatment, the cancer can be evaluated again. A drop in the glucose uptake or complete resolution of the metabolic activity indicates the treatment is effective and can be continued to kill the cancer cells.

Note: This article is an excerpt from the original article published on The Star newspaper on 16 August 2022 available HERE.