Radiopharmaceutical Therapies: a Partnership Between NM and RO Departments?

MRT, RPT, PRRT . . . whatever you’re calling it, radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) has been a major topic of discussion at nuclear medicine conferences for the past six years. Efforts to bring radiopharmaceutical therapies into the clinic are snowballing and hold promise for benefiting patients. Recently, the topic has also started gaining traction in radiation oncology conferences.

Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology Collaborations

At this year’s AAPM and ASTRO meetings, several speakers addressed ongoing discussions about bringing nuclear medicine and radiation oncology departments together to handle these therapies, since detailed knowledge of radioactive isotopes as well as advanced dosimetry tools will be required for the best implementation of these therapies.

Over the last few years, multiple major community groups have put out guidelines for patient-centered RPT that highlight the benefits of nuclear medicine and radiation oncology collaboration:

• ASTRO published a framework for incorporating the strengths of both radiation oncologists and nuclear medicine physicians, along with new training guidelines for radiation oncologists that include specific RPT requirements.
  
  
• AAPM and SNMMI held joint symposiums on nuclear medicine, and AAPM formed a new radiopharmaceutical therapy subcommittee.
  
  
• Even the recent ICRU report on dosimetry-guided radiopharmaceutical therapy begins, “it is essential to adopt strategies analogous to external beam radiation therapy” and includes guidance on combining external beam and RPT therapies, showing just how intertwined these departments may be.

As the number of radiopharmaceutical therapies in the U.S. expands with the approval of Pluvicto^TM and its anticipated expanded indications, the nuclear medicine-radiation oncology collaboration will be essential to ensure that patients have access to the best treatments available. With its dosimetry and radiotherapy experience, radiation oncology is uniquely positioned to help your hospital smoothly implement these new and exciting radiopharmaceutical therapies.

What Does This Mean For You?

Whether you’re currently part of nuclear medicine or radiation oncology, it’s time to start consulting with your colleagues in the other department. Consider what workflow and technical challenges exist that you may need to overcome in order to effectively perform radionuclide therapy in a multidisciplinary fashion. Now is the best time to start this conversation!

What Now?

At MIM Software, we believe in streamlining data transfer and communication between departments to benefit patient care. Contact us to learn more about our new tools for radionuclide therapies and how these tools can be used by both nuclear medicine and radiation oncology departments.

Learn why MIM SurePlan MRT has quickly become the standard application used for radiopharmaceutical therapy in Centers of Excellence across North America.