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Theranostics: See it, treat it!
Nuclear medicine is rapidly shifting from ‘trial and error’ medicine to personalised medicine, which holds great promise for improved patient outcomes.
Mike Sathekge, Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Steve Biko Academic Hospital presented the 22nd UP Expert Lecture, titled, Theranostics: See it, treat it!
The Expert Lecture Series provides a public platform for UP researchers to engage with a general audience on significant developments in their field of expertise.
Theranostics is a revolutionary approach that promises improved treatment by focusing on specific molecular features of disease, greater predictive power of adverse effects, and new ways to objectively monitor response to therapy. Professor Sathekge explained that cancer patients have to deal with escalating medical costs, in part due to the gap between diagnostics and therapy. Using nuclear imaging and theranostics, clinicians can adopt a ‘see it, treat it’ approach, which will allow clinicians to identify the right therapy, for the right patient, at the right time.
Vice-Chancellor Cheryl de la Rey, Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng MEC for Education, and Mike Sathekge.
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