In Calcutta, more than two hundred specialists in nuclear medicine gathered to confront one of medicine's quiet revolutions: the move from treating cancer broadly to targeting it at the molecular level. The conference, hosted by the Association of Nuclear Medicine Physicians of India, illuminated both the promise of theranostics—where diagnosis and therapy converge into a single, personalized act—and the human bottleneck that threatens to keep that promise out of reach. India's infrastructure has grown tenfold in a decade, yet the physicians to wield it have not kept pace, a reminder that prog
Nuclear medicine gains ground as alternative cancer therapy when conventional treatments fail
We are asking what the disease is at the molecular level
Mark
So nuclear medicine is essentially using radioactive drugs to treat cancer. Why is that better than what we already do?
Mimi
It's not always better—it's different, and it works when conventional treatments stop working. A man with advanced prostate cancer who's already had surgery and radiation might get PSMA therapy, which targets a specific protein on his cancer cells. The radioactive element kills those cells directly.
Luke
But how many patients are we actually talking about? The article says patients are "increasingly opting" for PSMA, but it doesn't give numbers on how many people are using it or what the success rates are.
Mimi
Fair point. What we know is that it's becoming a standard option when conventional therapies fail. For thyroid cancer, radioactive iodine after surgery is already well-established—that's not new.
Mark
And this theranostics thing—combining diagnosis with treatment—that sounds like the future.
Mimi
It is. Instead of just taking a picture of where the cancer is, you're looking at what it is at the molecular level, then using that information to design a treatment for that specific signature.
Luke
Again, the article doesn't explain how theranostics is actually being used in practice yet. It sounds like the conference was discussing it as a direction, not necessarily as something already deployed widely.
Mimi
You're right. It's the direction the field is moving, but the article doesn't give us concrete examples of theranostics in use.
Mark
What about the shortage of specialists? That seems like the real problem.
Mimi
Exactly. Calcutta went from one PET-CT machine in 2010 to thirty now. But there aren't enough nuclear medicine doctors to run them or interpret the scans.
Luke
And we don't know how many specialists India actually needs, or how many it has, or how long the training takes. The shortage is real, but the article doesn't quantify it.
El Pulso
- Patients who have exhausted surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are finding new recourse in radiopharmaceutical therapies like PSMA for prostate cancer and radioactive iodine for thyroid cancer—treatments that pursue disease at the molecular level rather than overwhelming the body to reach it.
- The field is converging on theranostics, a discipline that fuses diagnostic imaging with targeted treatment, allowing oncologists to see a cancer's molecular signature and strike it with precision—a fundamental shift in how the disease is understood and fought.
- Calcutta's expansion from one PET-CT machine in 2010 to thirty today signals surging demand and institutional confidence, yet that hardware growth has outrun the supply of specialists trained to interpret and act on what those machines reveal.
- India faces a structural crisis quietly shadowing the conference's optimism: without enough nuclear medicine physicians, the machines stand ready but underutilized, and the gap between what the field can do and what it is actually delivering to patients continues to widen.
In Calcutta, more than two hundred specialists in nuclear medicine gathered to confront one of medicine's quiet revolutions: the move from treating cancer broadly to targeting it at the molecular level. The conference, hosted by the Association of Nuclear Medicine Physicians of India, illuminated both the promise of theranostics—where diagnosis and therapy converge into a single, personalized act—and the human bottleneck that threatens to keep that promise out of reach. India's infrastructure has grown tenfold in a decade, yet the physicians to wield it have not kept pace, a reminder that progress in medicine is never purely technological.
More than two hundred nuclear medicine specialists convened in Calcutta for the 24th annual conference of the Association of Nuclear Medicine Physicians of India, gathering under the watch of state health officials to examine a quiet but consequential shift in cancer care. The conversation centered on theranostics—a discipline that merges diagnostic imaging with targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy, enabling physicians to identify a cancer's precise molecular character and treat it accordingly.
The practical stakes are high for patients who have run out of conventional options. Men with advanced prostate cancer increasingly turn to PSMA therapy after surgery, chemotherapy, and standard radiation have failed. Thyroid cancer patients receive radioactive iodine post-surgery, allowing it to seek out and destroy remaining cells without the systemic toll of chemotherapy. These are no longer experimental measures—they are becoming the standard recourse when older treatments reach their limits.
The conference drew specialists from across the country, including presentations on artificial intelligence's role in nuclear medicine and recent advances in liver cancer treatment. Organizers noted that while CT and MRI scans offer substantial diagnostic value, PET-CT imaging provides the supplementary precision essential for staging disease, planning treatment, and measuring therapeutic response.
Calcutta's infrastructure tells a story of rapid growth: from a single PET-CT machine in 2010 to thirty today, reflecting both rising demand and deepening confidence in the field. Yet that expansion has exposed a structural vulnerability. India does not have enough nuclear medicine specialists to staff what it has built. Physicians at the conference acknowledged the shortage plainly—recognizing that as more cancers become treatable through radiopharmaceutical approaches, the gap between the field's potential and its actual reach will only grow more acute.
More than two hundred nuclear medicine specialists gathered in Calcutta on Friday as the 24th annual conference of the Association of Nuclear Medicine Physicians of India opened under the watch of health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee and junior minister for youth affairs and sports Indranil Khan. They came to discuss a shift happening quietly in cancer care: the move toward treatments that work at the molecular level, targeting disease with precision rather than blunt force.
Nuclear medicine is the practice of using radiopharmaceuticals—drugs tagged with radioactive elements—to both diagnose and treat disease. The field is evolving toward what specialists call theranostics, a marriage of diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy that allows doctors to see exactly what a cancer is doing and then hit it with a treatment designed for that specific molecular signature. "We are moving beyond simply asking where the disease is," said Deepanjan Mitra, the conference's organising secretary. "We are increasingly asking what the disease is at a molecular level and how we can use that knowledge to provide more precise and personalised treatment."
The practical applications are already reshaping treatment for patients who have exhausted conventional options. Men with advanced prostate cancer increasingly turn to PSMA therapy—a treatment that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen—when surgery, chemotherapy, and standard radiation have failed to stop the disease. In thyroid cancer, patients receive radioactive iodine after surgery, allowing the iodine to emit rays that kill remaining cancer cells, replacing the need for conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. These are not experimental approaches; they are becoming standard recourse when the older playbook runs out of answers.
The conference brought together leading figures in the field, including association president Indirani M. from Chennai, Parag Aland from Mumbai, who presented on artificial intelligence's role in nuclear medicine, and Ishita Sen from Gurgaon, who discussed recent advances in treating liver cancer. A panel on Saturday examined the regulatory landscape governing nuclear medicine practice. Soumendranath Ray, the conference's organising chairperson, noted that while CT and MRI scans provide substantial diagnostic information, PET-CT imaging offers supplementary detail crucial for precise treatment planning, disease staging, and measuring how well a cancer is responding to therapy.
The infrastructure supporting this work has grown dramatically. In 2010, Calcutta had barely one PET-CT machine—a bottleneck that forced patients from across eastern India, Bangladesh, and Nepal to wait or travel for imaging. Today the city has thirty such machines. This expansion reflects both growing demand and growing confidence in nuclear medicine's capacity to deliver results where conventional treatments cannot.
Yet the field faces a structural problem. Even as machines multiply and techniques advance, India lacks enough nuclear medicine specialists to staff them. Physicians at the conference acknowledged the shortage plainly, recognizing that infrastructure without expertise becomes inert. The gap between what nuclear medicine can do and what it is actually doing in practice remains a constraint on how many patients can access these precision approaches. As the field matures and more cancers become treatable through radiopharmaceutical therapy, that shortage will only sharpen.
Citas Notables
We are moving beyond simply asking where the disease is. We are increasingly asking what the disease is at a molecular level and how we can use that knowledge to provide more precise and personalised treatment.— Deepanjan Mitra, organising secretary of ANMPICON
There is significant information that a CT or MRI provides, but there is certain adjunct or supplementary information that a PET-CT provides for more precise treatment planning, staging of the disease or evaluating the response to cancer treatment.— Soumendranath Ray, organising chairperson of the conference
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