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UroToday Launches Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Video Channel

“By academic freedom, I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true.  This right implies also a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.  It is evident that any restriction on academic freedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge among the people and thereby impedes national judgment and action.” -Albert Einstein

Over the past several years, advancements in PET imaging of prostate cancer have markedly improved our ability to detect recurrent and metastatic disease.  Nuclear medicine has been at the forefront of developing tools that are allowing us to detect disease at lower PSA levels and with greater accuracy.  This has disrupted our conventional rationale with regards to disease status which then challenges the appropriateness of our treatment decisions along the full spectrum of disease.  This paradigm shift is thrilling because it gives us all the opportunity to explore how these tools can produce better outcomes for our patients living with prostate cancer.  Whether it is a potential cure for patients with oligometastatic disease at biochemical recurrence or improvement in the quality of life due to a delay in the initiation of ADT, we are seeing a renewed excitement with regards to what is achievable when we all work side by side together.  Additionally, new radiopharmaceutical based therapies such as Radium 223 and PSMA targeted therapies have placed nuclear medicine on the frontlines with regards to therapy, patient management, and patient safety.  The combination of new diagnostic tools and therapeutic tools have heralded a new era in the field of nuclear medicine and will continue to bring new perspectives and contributions to the multi-disciplinary cancer care team.

To help disseminate information regarding these new developments in imaging and nuclear medicine therapies, we are delighted to launch a channel on the Imaging Center of Excellence at UroToday which presents educational content from nationally and internationally recognized members of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).  We start with a structured curriculum presenting the various nuclear medicine-related developments in prostate cancer which will be sequentially released, archived, and updated as needed.  Thank you to Drs. Robert Flavell and Ephraim Parent who have led this initiative as the new co-Chairs of the Prostate Cancer Outreach Working Group.  A sincere thanks to the members of the SNMMI who have lent their time and expertise to share their knowledge with the UroToday community.  A heartfelt thank you goes to Linda Budzinski, Director of Outreach at the SNMMI, for her steadfast leadership to bring this to fruition. And finally, I would like to thank UroToday for continuing to support high-quality educational content.

By sharing this knowledge with the multidisciplinary community throughout the world, we hope to challenge conventional wisdom, spur invigorating discussions, and stimulate change that fulfills the promise to our patients to heal the sick.

Written by: Philip Koo, MD, FACS, Division Chief of Diagnostic Imaging, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Arizona, Gilbert, Arizona

Published Date: July 1st, 2019

Further Related Content:
Watch: Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: Incorporating New PET imaging and Theranostic Approaches - Robert Flavell
Watch:18F-fluciclovine PET/CT in Patients with Suspected Recurrent Prostate Cancer - Bital Savir-Baruch
Watch: PET C-11 Choline Imaging in Prostate Cancer Patients with Biochemical Recurrence- Ajit H. Goenka