Theranostics

Not to be confused with Theranos.

Theranostics, also known as theragnostics,[1] is a technique commonly used in personalised medicine. For example in nuclear medicine, one radioactive drug is used to identify (diagnose) and a second radioactive drug is used to treat (therapy) cancerous tumors.[2][3][4] In other words, theranostics combines radionuclide imaging and radiation therapy which targets specific biological pathways.

Technologies used for theranostic imaging include radiotracers, contrast agents, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.[3][5] It has been used to treat thyroid cancer and neuroblastomas.[3]

The term "theranostic" is a portmanteau of two words, therapeutic and diagnostic, thus referring to a combination of diagnosis and treatment that also allows for continuing medical assessment of a patient. The first known use of the term is attributed to John Funkhouser, a consultant for the company Cardiovascular Diagnostic, who used it in a press release in August 1998.[6]

  1. ^ Farolfi A, Mei R, Ali S, Castellucci P (December 2021). "Theragnostics in prostate cancer". Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (Review). 65 (4): 333–341. doi:10.23736/S1824-4785.21.03419-1 (inactive 31 January 2024). PMID 35133097.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  2. ^ "What is theranostics?". University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  3. ^ a b c Okamoto, Shozo; Shiga, Tohru; Tamaki, Nagara (2021). "Clinical Perspectives of Theranostics". Molecules. 26 (8): 2232. doi:10.3390/molecules26082232. ISSN 1420-3049. PMC 8070270. PMID 33924345.
  4. ^ Pini, Cristiano; Gelardi, Fabrizia; Sollini, Martina (1 September 2022). "Present and future of target therapies and theranostics: refining traditions and exploring new frontiers—highlights from annals of Nuclear Medicine 2021". European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. 49 (11): 3613–3621. doi:10.1007/s00259-022-05921-7. PMID 35870007.
  5. ^ O'Shea A, Iravani A, Saboury B, Jadvar H, Catalano O, Mahmood U, Heidari P (May 2023). "Integrating Theranostics Into Patient Care Pathways: AJR Expert Panel Narrative Review". AJR Am J Roentgenol (Review). 220 (5): 619–629. doi:10.2214/AJR.22.28237. PMC 10133840. PMID 36321986.
  6. ^ "Theranostics and contrast-agents for medical imaging: A pharmaceutical company viewpoint". Jean-Marc Idée, et al.; Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery, December 2013.