Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Explained

Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive components. When used in small amounts, a patient’s body receives small amounts of radiation considered safe. Sometimes large amounts of these components are administered to treat an ailment. In that case, patients will react differently. Read on to learn more about radiopharmaceutical therapy.

Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Facilitates Medical Diagnoses

According to Breastcancer.org, nearly one out of eight women, approximately 13%, in the US are likely to develop breast cancer at some point. Early diagnosing of the disease can help save lives and alleviate suffering.

Radiopharmaceuticals are administered via a body organ. The best cancer specialist‘s organ depends on the radiopharmaceutical used and how it is administered. The radioactivity enters the body organ, and a specially designed imaging unit produces images.

The best cancer specialist uses the images to establish the organ’s performance and find any tumors or cancer that could be present. Sometimes a cancer expert will administer large amounts of radiopharmaceuticals to treat specific forms of cancers or other diseases. In that case, the radioactive agent is directed to the cancerous area to eradicate the affected tissue.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a commonly used method of cancer care. According to the National Cancer Institute, the best cancer specialists prescribe radiation to more than half of all cancer patients, sometimes during their treatments. In recent years, oncologists have expressed more interest in radiopharmaceuticals.

Radiopharmaceutical therapy is based on the progress in immunotherapy and targeted therapy medicine sectors. These forms of therapy are made to mount to certain receptors on nonmalignant or cancer cells near a cancerous growth or tumor. In targeted therapy, monoclonal antibodies help destroy cancer cells and stop a tumor from spreading or growing. On the other hand, the connections in immunotherapy stimulate the body’s immune system to battle cancer.

In targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy, specific drugs or a monoclonal antibody bears a radioactive isotope that eliminates both healthy and cancer cells in its surroundings. The targeted approach is different from the more conventional EBRT (external beam radiation therapy), where radiation comes from outside the human body.

Radiopharmaceuticals can highly reduce the magnitude of damage to healthy cells. However, there will still be some percentage of risk on other body parts. That is because the radioactive drug penetrates the bloodstream before being expelled into the urine.

Radiopharmaceuticals should be administered only by the best cancer specialist and under the supervision of an expert with a technical understanding of nuclear medicine. If you are looking for the best cancer specialist, contact us to schedule an appointment.

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