Dear AuntMinnieEurope member,
Last month theranostics took center stage at the NMN Symposium in Vienna. Prof. Nathalie Albert from the EANM Oncology & Theranostics Committee told us why PET RANO 1.0 is now appearing in routine tumor boards. Criteria originally designed for clinical trials are becoming clinical practice.
While Europe's theranostics is gaining scientific excellence, access remains uneven. Prof. Clemens Decristoforo from EANM's Policy & Regulatory Affairs Council (PRAC) tells us why: five regulatory layers, national fragmentation, no harmonized framework for hospital-based manufacturing. A patient in Vienna can access treatment, a patient across a border cannot.
To close the gap six major societies launched a consensus project on RLT referral pathways, mapping how patients are identified, referred, and routed through Europe's fragmented systems.
Speaking of clinical gains: Specimen PET/CT improved breast cancer margin assessment, cutting re-excision from 18.2% to 8.1%. Early FAPI-PET (10 minutes) matched 60-minute standard scans for lung staging, offering workflow efficiency.
Takeaways from SNMMI: Machine-learning models now predict Lu-177 PSMA dosimetry pre-treatment, personalizing therapy before injection. And Technetium-99m maraciclatide differentiated inflammation from fibrosis in interstitial lung disease, potentially unlocking anti-inflammatory pathways. Phase III trial is planned.
On the brain research front: $9M TRAFFIC grant combines advanced neuroimaging with molecular biomarkers for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) - a European-U.S. collaboration training next-generation scientists.
And beyond oncology: Retired motorsport drivers showed eye movement abnormalities as the clearest marker of cumulative head impact expanding neuroimaging beyond cancer.
Lastly, on prognostic imaging: Elevated FDG uptake linked to poorer survival in hepatocellular carcinoma across 59 studies and 8,585 patients.
For more, visit our Molecular Imaging content area. Got ideas? Get in touch.
Claudia Tschabuschnig
Associate Editor
AuntMinnieEurope.com