Nuclear Medicine and Wall Street: An Evolving Relationship.

Until recently, it has been challenging to engage Wall Street and large pharmaceutical companies in radiopharmaceutical opportunities. The modest economic prospects of most diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals have not attracted keen interest from the broader business community, despite the rapid advancement of diagnostic imaging capabilities and their increasingly crucial role in the therapeutic process. Similarly, compelling science supporting select radiopharmaceutical therapies in oncology has been overshadowed by the unique challenges posed by this class of drugs and historical commercial failures that serve as sobering reminders of risk. Fortunately, a few notable successes in the targeted radioligand therapeutic space are changing this dynamic, fueling a new flow of investor capital into these technologies and inciting increased merger and acquisition activity that has yielded significant value creation for investors. If the nuclear medicine industry is able to continue to effectively manage historical challenges, then there is significant opportunity for a new and promising wave of radioligand therapies to significantly change the oncology treatment paradigm and elevate the profile of the entire nuclear medicine sector.

Do You Want an Inspirational Career? Choose Nuclear Medicine.

All specialties of medicine require a continuous stream of skilled trainees in order to renew and grow. Over the 75 y of its existence, the field of nuclear medicine has rejuvenated itself repeatedly by welcoming waves of diverse trainees with adventuresome spirits who recognize the promise of the tracer principle for scientific discovery, clinical diagnosis, and targeted radionuclide therapy. Most recently, the rapid development of molecular imaging for precision medicine has made the field attractive to trainees seeking to combine expertise in nuclear medicine with high-level abilities in cross-sectional imaging. Also, substantial advances in therapeutic index achieved with modern targeted radionuclide therapy, combined with quantitative PET and SPECT imaging for dosimetry, have opened up exciting opportunities for radiotheranostics, ushering in a distinct group of trainees who want to combine nuclear medicine expertise with therapy including patient management. The training programs of the future will need to directly address the special needs of these diagnosticians and therapists. A subset of these groups will likely seek additional training in clinical or research fellowships to deepen their expertise in molecular imaging or targeted therapy. This enhanced training will increase the likelihood for an impactful career, whether in research, clinical care, or both. If we are truly going to attract the best and brightest students to nuclear medicine, leaders and mentors in the field must educate themselves in both aspects of nuclear medicine so we can fully capitalize on the opportunities to improve patient care with radionuclides.

Targeted radionuclide therapy: frontiers in theranostics.

The concept of targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) relies on the use of injected nuclear medicine as treating agents, targeted at the cellular or molecular level. The growth of the interest in TRT was stimulated by the advances in radionuclide production and labeling as well as by the improvement in the knowledge of appropriate and specific molecular targets. In recent years, different studies on TRT were focused on the evaluation of radionuclide compounds able to combine imaging of the disease with TRT, in a theranostic approach. This approach is of particular interest towards the personalization of treatments, allowing both the baseline characterization of oncological pathologies and treatment optimization by correct dosimetric calculation as well as therapy monitoring. This paper presents a review of recent literature on TRT, with a particular focus on clinical applications promoting such a theranostic approach, showing the impact of the synergy of diagnostic imaging and therapeutics.

The IAEA technical cooperation programme and nuclear medicine in the developing world: objectives, trends, and contributions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's technical cooperation (TC) programme helps Member States in the developing world with limited infrastructure and human resource capacity to harness the potential of nuclear technologies in meeting socioeconomic development challenges. As a part of its human health TC initiatives, the Agency, through the TC mechanism, has the unique role of promoting nuclear medicine applications of fellowships, scientific visits, and training courses, via technology procurement, and in the past decade has contributed nearly $54 million through 180 projects in supporting technology procurement and human resource capacity development among Member States from the developing world (low- and middle-income countries). There has been a growing demand in nuclear medicine TC, particularly in Africa and ex-Soviet Union States where limited infrastructure presently exists, based on cancer and cardiovascular disease management projects. African Member States received the greatest allocation of TC funds in the past 10 years dedicated to building new or rehabilitating obsolete nuclear medicine infrastructure through procurement support of single-photon emission computed tomography machines. Agency support in Asia and Latin America has emphasized human resource capacity building, as Member States in these regions have already acquired positron emission tomography and hybrid modalities (positron emission tomography/computed tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography) in their health systems. The strengthening of national nuclear medicine capacities among Member States across different regions has enabled stronger regional cooperation among developing countries who through the Agency's support and within the framework of regional cooperative agreements are sharing expertise and fostering the sustainability and productive integration of nuclear medicine within their health systems.

Factor analysis for the adoption of nuclear technology in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate latent variables (variables that are not directly observed) for adopting and using nuclear technologies in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. The measurement and management of these latent factors are important for healthcare due to complexities of the sector. METHODS: An exploratory factor analysis study was conducted among 52 physicians practicing in the areas of Cardiology, Neurology and Oncology in the State of Sao Paulo who agreed to participate in the study between 2009 and 2010. Data were collected using an attitude measurement questionnaire, and analyzed according to the principal component method with Varimax rotation. RESULTS: The component matrix after factor rotation showed three elucidative groups arranged according to demand for nuclear technology: clinical factors, structural factors, and technological factors. Clinical factors included questionnaire answers referring to medical history, previous interventions, complexity and chronicity of the disease. Structural factors included patient age, physician's practice area, and payment ability. Technological factors included prospective growth in the use of nuclear technology and availability of services. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical factors group dimension identified in the study included patient history, prior interventions, and complexity and chronicity of the disease. This dimension is the main motivator for adopting nuclear technology in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases.

Factor analysis for the adoption of nuclear technology in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases / Análise de fatores para adoção da tecnologia nuclear no diagnóstico e tratamento de doenças crônicas

Objective: To identify and evaluate latent variables (variables that are not directly observed) for adopting and using nuclear technologies in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. The measurement and management of these latent factors are important for healthcare due to complexities of the sector. Methods: An exploratory factor analysis study was conducted among 52 physicians practicing in the areas of Cardiology, Neurology and Oncology in the State of Sao Paulo who agreed to participate in the study between 2009 and 2010. Data were collected using an attitude measurement questionnaire, and analyzed according to the principal component method with Varimax rotation. Results: The component matrix after factor rotation showed three elucidative groups arranged according to demand for nuclear technology: clinical factors, structural factors, and technological factors. Clinical factors included questionnaire answers referring to medical history, previous interventions, complexity and chronicity of the disease. Structural factors included patient age, physician's practice area, and payment ability. Technological factors included prospective growth in the use of nuclear technology and availability of services. Conclusions: The clinical factors group dimension identified in the study included patient history, prior interventions, and complexity and chronicity of the disease. This dimension is the main motivator for adopting nuclear technology in diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases.

Objetivo: Identificar e avaliar as variáveis latentes (que não podem ser observadas diretamente) no processo de adoção e uso de tecnologias nucleares no diagnóstico e tratamento de doenças crônicas. A mensuração e a gestão dos fatores latentes são importantes dentro da área da Saúde devido às complexidades inerentes do setor. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo do tipo fatorial exploratório com 52 médicos das especialidades de Cardiologia, Neurologia e Oncologia no Estado de São Paulo que participaram do estudo entre 2009 e 2010. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário de mensuração de atitudes e analisados pelo método dos componentes principais, com rotacionamento do tipo Varimax. Resultados: A matriz de componentes após a rotação dos fatores apresentou três agrupamentos explicativos ordenados para a demanda de uso das tecnologias nucleares: fatores clínicos, fatores estruturais e fatores tecnológicos. O fator clínico é formado por respostas referentes a histórico clínico, intervenção anterior, complexidade e cronicidade. O fator estrutural é composto por idade do paciente, área de atuação do médico e capacidade de pagamento; o fator tecnológico diz respeito às perspectivas de aumento do uso da tecnologia nuclear - quantidade de serviços. Conclusões: A dimensão de fatores clínicos é composta por histórico clínico, intervenção anterior, complexidade e cronicidade da doença. Essa dimensão é o principal motivador para adoção da tecnologia nuclear no diagnóstico e tratamento das doenças crônicas.

Nuclear medicine at a crossroads.

The growth of molecular imaging heightens the promise of clinical nuclear medicine as a tool for individualization of patient care and for improvement of health-care outcomes. Together with greater use of integrated structure-function imaging, clinical nuclear medicine reaches beyond traditional specialty borders into diagnostic radiology and oncology. Yet, there are concerns about the future of nuclear medicine, including progressively declining reimbursement, the competitive advantages of diagnostic radiology, limited translation of research accomplishments to clinical diagnostic imaging and patient care, and an insufficient pool of incoming highly qualified nuclear medicine clinicians. Thus, nuclear medicine views itself as being at a critical crossroads. What will be important is for nuclear medicine to be positioned as the quintessential molecular imaging modality more centrally within medical imaging and for the integration of nuclear medicine with primary care specialties to be driven more by patient needs than by specialty needs. In this way, the full potential of nuclear medicine as an effective and efficient tool for improving patient outcomes can be realized.

ACR-SNM Task Force on Nuclear Medicine Training: report of the task force.

The expansion of knowledge and technological advances in nuclear medicine and radiology require physicians to have more expertise in functional and anatomic imaging. The convergence of these two specialties into the new discipline of molecular imaging has also begun to place demands on residency training programs for additional instruction in physiology and molecular biology. These changes have unmasked weaknesses in current nuclear medicine and radiology training programs. Adding to the impetus for change are the attendant realities of the job market and uncertain employment prospects for physicians trained in nuclear medicine but not also trained in diagnostic radiology. With this background, the ACR and the Society of Nuclear Medicine convened the Task Force on Nuclear Medicine Training to define the issues and develop recommendations for resident training.

O desafio na difusão da medicina nuclear no contexto dos radiofármacos para tomográfos por emissão de pósitrons / The challenges of nuclear medicine radiopharmaceuticals diffusion forpositron emission tomography

O texto apresenta um ensaio descritivo do mercado da medicina nuclear,especialmente o mercado dos tomógrafos por emissão de pósitrons. São apresentadas as vantagens de uso desse tipo de tecnologia, os desafiospara sua maior difusão dentro da sociedade e as possíveis repercussõesna área da saúde. Para tanto esse ensaio cita os resultados obtidos nomercado dos Estados Unidos ilustrando a penetração da tecnologia emum contexto recente.(AU)

This is a descriptive review on the nuclear medicine market, especiallyin the positron emitting tomography market. The present study we presentadvantages on the use of this technology, the challenges for itsdiffusion amongst society and we analyze the possible repercussionson healthcare. This review references results obtained from a NorthAmerican market research illustrating the recent penetration of this technology.(AU)