Nuclear medicine therapy is an approach to treating cancer that might be used with or after other treatment options, such as chemotherapy and surgery. It won''t usually lead to a cure unless combined with other therapies. But for many people it will control symptoms and shrink and stabilize the tumors, sometimes for years. Nuclear medicine therapy is sometimes the best option for people who no longer respond to other treatments.
What makes nuclear medicine therapy effective is the use of radioactive molecules as a drug (molecular radiotherapy). The drug recognizes tumor cells. It''s injected intravenously, then circulates in the body, sticks to the tumor cells, delivers radiation directly and causes them to die. Some of the drug never attaches to cancer cells and keeps floating in the blood until the body gets rid of it, mostly in the urine. Over time, the radioactive drug stops giving off radioactivity and stops killing cancer cells. Nuclear medicine therapy is often repeated multiple times to achieve the most benefit.
Nuclear medicine therapy is also called peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), targeted radiotherapy, radionuclide therapy, therapeutic nuclear medicine and a theranostic approach to treating cancer.
People with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), including rare pancreatic NETs, now have wider access to PRRT following the January 2018 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of lutetium Lu 177 dotatate (Lutathera). This is an important option, as NETs can be widespread throughout the body and hard to remove with surgery.
What you can expect
Once you have a diagnosis and you and your care team have decided that nuclear medicine therapy is the best option for you, you''ll be scheduled for treatment. It may take up to a month before you can start therapy while blood and imaging tests are completed, your medications are modified, and therapy is prepared. Usually therapy involves up to four infusion sessions, each usually eight weeks apart.
The treatments are given in an outpatient setting. Plan to be on-site for up to eight hours each time. When you arrive, you''ll be cared for by a skilled team of specialists who provide safe and efficient therapy.
Before you start therapy, you''re given medications to reduce nausea. Then a small tube (catheter) is ed into an arm vein through which an amino acid solution drips in. This solution helps protect your kidneys. It flows for about 30 minutes before you start receiving the medication designed to target and kill cancer cells (Lutathera).
Lutathera flows into your vein for 30 to 40 minutes. Then you''ll continue receiving the amino acid solution for about 3 hours. Soon after the catheter is removed, you''ll be able to leave the hospital.
