Radiopharmaceuticals are medicines that contain small amounts of radioactive material. They are designed to target specific cancer cells. Diagnostic imaging includes scans such as MRI and PET/CT.
A PET/CT scan first identifies the protein receptors present on a patient’s tumor. Once identified, the care team prescribes a medicine designed to target the specific protein on the cancer cells. As the medicine travels through the patient’s body, it deposits doses of radiation to the proteins when found.
The goal of all targeted medicines is to reduce toxicity to surrounding, healthy tissue. Decreased side effects to surround tissue allows for a better quality of life during treatment and recovery. In general, patients find side effects to be both shorter and less intense than those of traditional chemotherapy.
