Description
The Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Candiolo Cancer Institute focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases using radiopharmaceuticals: substances that emit ionizing radiation and provide crucial functional information about disease activity.
This discipline is an essential component of cancer care, as it allows clinicians to observe the disease “in action,” offering a functional perspective on tumors that complements structural imaging methods..
Procedures and Patient Care
Radiopharmaceuticals are administered either intravenously or transarterially, depending on the specific examination or therapy. When necessary, patients are admitted on a day hospital basis in dedicated, shielded rooms, in full compliance with radiation protection regulations.
Activities
PET/CT Diagnostics: Detailed Functional Imaging
The department utilizes various PET/CT tracers, each selected for specific clinical indications:
- 18F-FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose): the most widely used tracer in a large number of malignancies in staging, assessment of response to therapy (early or late), radiotherapy treatment planning, and in suspected disease recurrence;
- 18F-FCH (fluorocholine): specific radiopharmaceutical for prostate pathology and adenoma detection in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism;
- 18F-DCFPyL (PSMA): prostate-specific radiopharmaceutical with elective indication for biochemical recurrence after primary treatment, with PSA values even below 1 ng/ml.
Scintigraphic Diagnostics and SPECT/CT: In-depth Functional Assessment
In addition to PET/CT, the department performs conventional scintigraphy to investigate different aspects of oncological and metabolic disease:
- Total body bone scintigraphy: evaluates bone metabolism and enables early detection of skeletal metastases from various cancers.
- Lymphatic and lymph node scintigraphy: identifies sentinel lymph nodes in breast, gynecologic, urologic, and melanoma cancers.
- Liver scintigraphy: preparatory test for radioembolization treatment.
- Thyroid scintigraphy: assesses thyroid function and aids in characterizing nodules or framing hyperthyroidism.
- Lung scintigraphy: evaluates lung perfusion, important for pre-surgical assessment, embolism diagnosis, and follow-up of obstructive lung diseases.
Radiometabolic Therapy
The department also provides therapeutic treatments with radiopharmaceuticals, including radioembolization (TARE). Yttrium-90-labeled microspheres are delivered directly into the vessels supplying liver tumors (primary or unresectable metastases) allowing targeted tumor irradiation with minimal systemic side effects.
Contact
- We are on the Ground Floor – East Wing
- Phone: 011 993 3773
- Email: reparto.medicina.nucleare@ircc.it
How to book
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