Article by Richard Zimmermann, President & Founder of the Oncidium foundation.
Radiotheranostics are molecules that can safely carry radioactive Isotopes inside targeted human tissues and help physicians get accurate images of tumors, allowing them to more effectively and precisely eliminate cancer cells.
The concept of Radiotheranostics was expanded to combination of Imaging followed by other non-radioactive therapies of any type, including, of course, chemotherapy, but also (guided) surgery or External radiotherapy. On this basis, Theranostics will not only reduce considerably the patient population needed to complete the trials and, of course, the costs of drug development, but also reduce the healthcare expenses by limiting the application of expensive drugs to those who will really benefit from it.
In the last decade, the technology has considerably improved with a high number of radiotheranostic pairs expected to reach the market. But there is still a lot to do to raise awareness among physicians, oncologists and the general public about this new therapeutic approach.
