#IDIBELLseminars: Theranostics with radiopharmaceuticals: Quo Vadis

The term theranostics has clearly become a buzzword. To a large extent, this is due to the success of somatostatin analogues for neuroendocrine tumors and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)–targeted radioligands for prostate cancer. The success of these therapies has driven the development of new radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat other pathologies such as breast cancer, brain tumors, lung cancer, among other oncological processes. These ligands can be labeled with positron- or gamma-emitting isotopes for imaging or with beta- or alpha-emitting isotopes for therapy. The diagnostic or therapeutic targeting ligands are otherwise identical or similar. In the wake of these clinical successes, an impressive number of new biotech companies have been founded that aim to develop new theranostic agents.

Hosted by Montserrat Cortés

Dr Vercher is a nuclear medicine physician in the Dep. of Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital of Bellvitge. He received a scholarship for a stage in the Mount Sinai Medical Hospital of New York in the Dep. of Radiology and in 2013 a fellowship in PET/MR and digital PET at UH Hospital/CWRU in Cleveland (Ohio, USA). He’s interested in oncology with hybrid imaging, radiopharmaceuticals, and radiometabolic therapy. He’s the Spanish ambassador of the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging (ESHImt) and also the Vice-President of the ESHImt (2020-). He’s member of the scientific subcommittee of the European Society of Radiology, as well as ambassador of The Oncidium Foundation, an international organization promoting treatments with radiopharmaceuticals worldwide