At the scientific conference "Updating advances in cancer and nuclear medicine" organized by Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) on August 16, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally and in Vietnam. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year the world records about 20 million new cases and nearly 10 million deaths. In Vietnam alone, GLOBOCAN 2022 statistics show that there are more than 182,000 new cases and over 122,000 deaths each year, of which common types of cancer include lungs, liver, breast, stomach and colon.
In this situation, the application of modern techniques to diagnose early, treat on-site and personalize the regimen for each patient has become an inevitable trend. Nuclear medicine plays a key role with advanced functional imaging technologies such as PET/CT, SPECT/CT, SPECT, helping to detect metastasis early, accurately assess treatment response and choose appropriate therapy. In particular, targeted radioactive methods and theranostic techniques have opened up a new treatment direction, highly effective but less impactful on healthy tissue.
Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Cam Phuong, Director of the Center for Nuclear Medicine and Oncology, Bach Mai Hospital, said: PET/CT, SPECT/CT techniques help detect metastasis early and assess treatment response even when the damage is not clear. Theranostic therapy combining diagnosis and treatment with many advanced radioactive pharmaceuticals are opening the way to personalization, improving the effectiveness and quality of life for patients. Currently, patients in Vietnam can fully access international standard methods.
The new generation of PET/CT machines shortens the scanning time, increasing the ability to detect metastasis and applying it in many other fields. In parallel, artificial intelligence (AI) is being tested in image analysis and screening, early detection of cancer with high accuracy.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Cam Phuong, nuclear medicine is not only applied in cancer but also in the cardiovascular, hormonal, and neurological diseases. In cancer alone, PET/CT has been used for more than a decade in Vietnam, helping to accurately diagnose the stage, evaluate treatment and detect metastasis. A typical example is I-131 in the treatment of thyroid cancer: both diagnosing metastasis and destroying cancer cells, bringing high efficiency even when the disease has spread. In addition, radioactive pharmaceuticals such as I-125 for the prostate and Y-90 for liver cancer are also applied, with the advantage of destroying tumors without affecting healthy tissue. These advances open up opportunities to personalize treatment and improve the quality of life for patients.
