Nuclear Therapy

Our Nuclear Therapy use small amounts of short-lived, low-energy radioactive materials to highlight specific areas inside your body. Special cameras then read the radiation that is picked up by these areas to produce images that help doctors identify disease processes in their earliest stages and plan your treatment. Nuclear imaging allows us to see small tumors, fine fractures and certain diseases in your organs or bones that may not show up on other types of scans.

For therapeutic studies or procedures, we administer a different type of radioactive drug, called a radiopharmaceutical. This is bound to a substance that will provide a diagnostic image, such as a SPECT or PET scan, or it can be used in conjunction with surgery, radiation therapy or other treatments. We only use FDA-approved radiopharmaceuticals that meet strict safety and performance standards.

How Advanced Nuclear Medicine Is Transforming Patient Care

Like chemotherapy, nuclear medicine therapy uses a medication that binds to cancer cells and then destroys them, but with less damage to healthy tissues. For example, we use a new drug approved for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) called Lutathera that combines a targeted therapy with an experimental radioisotope that targets the scaffolding that supports cancer cell growth.

During your procedure, we will insert a tube (catheter) into a vein in your arm. Then we will drip a solution that contains amino acids to protect your kidneys and the radioisotope into this catheter. The drug flows into your bloodstream, where it travels to the tumors and sticks to them just like a magnet attracts a metal object.