Washington, D.C. – The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), along with the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. (CORAR) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), today hosted a virtual briefing with physicians, patients, and industry representatives. Discussions centered on the need to provide patient access to innovative nuclear diagnostics and the growing role of positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), and nuclear medicine in detecting prostate cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other life-threatening diseases.

Attended by a broad coalition of patient and provider stakeholders, the briefing included presentations from Dr. Tom Hope, Director of Molecular Therapy in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco, and Joel Nowak, co-founder and CEO of Cancer ABCs and a cancer thriver and advocate who has been diagnosed and treated for five primary cancers, including advanced prostate cancer.

"At a time when millions of Americans have delayed or avoided regular screening care amid the COVID-19 public health emergency, allowing access to advanced diagnostic imaging procedures that can better detect deadly diseases earlier – when they are most treatable – is essential," said event master of ceremonies Michael J. Guastella, Executive Director of the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. (CORAR), who delivered the briefing's opening remarks. "Unfortunately, due to arcane Medicare reimbursement policies, patients and their doctors are unable to fully leverage the benefits of these innovative diagnostic imaging tools. This ongoing problem undermines public health and incentivizes the use of less effective screening modalities."
Following Guastella's remarks, Dr. Hope provided an overview of the latest advancements in PET imaging in identifying prostate cancer.

"Positron emission tomography using a PET-radiopharmaceutical is a highly effective way to detect prostate cancer throughout the body, allowing for more targeted, selective treatment," said Hope. "Given the many benefits of these modalities in staging or localizing recurrence of dangerous diseases such as prostate cancer, I firmly believe that PET imaging is the best way to evaluate patients with prostate cancer."

After Dr. Hope offered his perspective on the growing clinical applications of PET imaging, Joel Nowak discussed his personal experience battling metastatic prostate cancer and the central role of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals in supporting his road to recovery.

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