Dear AuntMinnieEurope Member,
Nuclear medicine's policy presence is growing in Europe. The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) has joined EMUC26 as a co-organizer for the first time and plans to open a Brussels office to tackle long-standing challenges: fragmented reimbursement, outdated regulations, and an unmeasured access gap across EU member states. Read more.
On the clinical front, early SPECT/CT total tumor volume response predicts overall survival in mCRPC patients on Lu-177 PSMA-617, earlier and cheaper than interim PET. Cu-64 SAR-bisPSMA identified 63 lesions versus 24 for standard Ga-68 PSMA-11 in low-PSA relapsed prostate cancer, triggering management changes in 44% of patients. And Ga-68 BED003, a next-generation FAPI ligand, showed consistently high uptake across 19 solid tumor types, with a companion radioligand therapy already in phase I.
In brain imaging: EANM and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) released joint tau PET recommendations for Alzheimer's disease, stressing cross-center harmonization. Low brain FDG uptake also independently predicts survival in advanced NSCLC, a prognostic signal already available in routine scans.
From ECR: MTV and Dmax outperformed Deauville scores for predicting progression-free survival in lymphoma. Opportunistic sarcopenia assessment from routine PET/CT low-dose CT data found muscle loss in nearly half an oncology cohort at zero additional radiation cost. And Dr. Andrei Iagaru of Stanford discussed gamma-emitting imaging's future -- and who's ahead, the U.S. or Europe?
Supply chain updates: NRG Pallas and Morpho are building a GMP Lu-177 production line in Petten, targeting early 2027. TAG1 and NRG Pallas are developing Pb-212 access across Europe. Astral Systems and Brazil's IPEN are pursuing actinium-225 supply via fusion neutron technology.
On AI: ChatGPT-4o and ChatGPT-5 nailed primary diagnoses in up to 89% of FDG-PET/CT brain scans, strong on typical patterns, weaker on complex cases. Researchers at University Hospital Bonn showed AI can audit unstructured SOP documents to surface protocol deviations, including a DOTATOC uptake time running at less than half the guideline recommendation.
And from the theranostics pipeline: 99mTc-maraciclatide detected endometriosis, including superficial peritoneal disease missed by ultrasound and MRI, with phase 3 studies planned for later this year.
For more, visit our Molecular Imaging content area regularly. Got topic ideas? Get in touch.
Claudia Tschabuschnig
Associate Editor
AuntMinnieEurope.com
