Nuclear medicine in oncology

Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:426291

Murphy, J

Radioactivity was discovered in the late 1890s, and as early as 1903, Alexander Graham Bell advocated that radioactivity be used to treat tumors. In 1913, the first paper describing therapeutic uses of radium was published; in 1936, {sup 24}Na was administered as a therapy to a leukemia patient. Three years later, uptake of {sup 89}Sr was noted in bone metastases. During the 1940s, there was increasing use of iodine therapy for thyroid diseases, including thyroid cancer. Diagnostic {open_quotes}imaging{close_quotes} with radioisotopes was increasingly employed in the 1930s and 40s using probes and grew in importance and utility with the development of scintillation detectors with photorecording systems. Although coincidence counting to detect positron emissions was developed in 1953, the first medical center cyclotron was not installed until 1961. The 1960s saw the development of {sup 99m}Tc-labeled radiopharmaceuticals, emission reconstruction tomography [giving rise to single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET)], and {sup 64}Ga tumor imaging. Nuclear medicine was recognized as a medical specialty in 1971. Radiolabeled antibodies targeting human tumors in animals was reported in 1973; antibody tumor imaging in humans was reported in 1978. Technology has continued to advance, including the development of SPECT cameras with coincidence detection able to perform FDG/PET imaging. With this overview as as backdrop, this paper focuses on the role of nuclear medicine in oncology from three perspectives: nonspecific tumor imaging agents, specific tumor imaging agents, and radioisotopes for tumor therapy. In summary, while tumor diagnosis and treatment were among the first uses explored for radioactivity, these areas have yet to reach their full potential. Development of new radioisotopes and new radiopharmaceuticals, coupled with improvements in technology, make nuclear oncology an area of growth for nuclear medicine.

• OSTI ID: 426291
• Report Number(s): CONF-961103--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 75; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
IMAGES
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
RADIOTHERAPY