Abstract
Medical managements are becoming personalized while diseases are being understood at the molecular level. Nuclear medicine is one of the fields actively contributing to this development. In particular, theranostics, a combinatorial term for therapy and diagnostics, enables accurate imaging and subsequent targeted radionuclide treatment. Due to its high impact in healthcare, many countries have begun to offer Ga-68 PET/CT scans and Lu-177 therapies. The Philippines has followed suit through the initiative of this author and able support of the administration and staff of St. Luke’s Medical Center. The Ga-68 DOTATATE and PSMA PET/CT scans became officially available in January 2018 while the first peptide receptor radionuclide therapy for neuroendocrine tumor and first PSMA radioligand therapy for prostate cancer occurred in May and June 2018, respectively. Amidst past, present, and future challenges, theranostics has emerged in the Philippines, offering hope to cancer patients in the country.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Baum and his staff at Zentralklinik Bad Berka for their generosity, the St. Luke’s Medical Center administration for their approval, the SLMC-QC PET Center staff for their substantial help, and the SLMC-QC Nuclear Medicine staff for their cooperation.
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Patricia A. Bautista declares that she has no conflict of interest.
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Bautista, P.A. The Emergence of Theranostics in the Philippines: Overcoming Challenges and Bringing Hope. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 53, 30–32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-018-0560-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-018-0560-7