Asan Hospital Opens Korea's First Innovative Cancer Treatment 'Theranostics Center'

The Asan Medical Center Cancer Hospital in Seoul announced on the 12th that it has recently opened the first Theranostics Center in Korea and has begun full-scale operations to lead the clinical application of theranostics.

Theranostics is a compound word of the English terms ‘Therapy’ and ‘Diagnostics,’ referring to a technology that diagnoses and treats cancer by injecting radiopharmaceuticals into patients. Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs composed of radioactive isotopes that emit radiation combined with chemicals targeting specific cancer cells.

Medical staff at the Theranostics Center of the Asan Medical Center Cancer Hospital in Seoul are administering Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT), a type of theranostics treatment, to patients with neuroendocrine tumors.

Theranostics is a technology that precisely diagnoses cancer through imaging tests by injecting diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals targeting specific cancer cells, and then treats the cancer by injecting therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals tailored to the diagnosis.

Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals selectively bind to cancer cells through targeting substances, minimizing damage to normal cells while selectively destroying cancer cells, resulting in fewer side effects relative to treatment efficacy.

Since a radiopharmaceutical for treating metastatic neuroendocrine tumors received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018, theranostics has recently emerged as a new alternative for treating intractable cancers. A radiopharmaceutical for treating metastatic prostate cancer also received FDA approval in 2022.

Currently, in Korea, radiopharmaceuticals for treating neuroendocrine tumors have been approved for use. Radiopharmaceuticals for prostate cancer treatment have not yet been approved domestically, but the Theranostics Center at Asan Medical Center Cancer Hospital in Seoul is participating in global clinical trials to expand indications.

Jinsook Ryu, Director of the Theranostics Center at Asan Medical Center Cancer Hospital (Professor of Nuclear Medicine), said, “Asan Medical Center opened the Theranostics Center to provide optimal treatment methods tailored to each patient’s condition through a multidisciplinary approach with experts from various fields and to lead the clinical application of theranostics.” She added, “We will actively participate in clinical research on new drugs for various cancer treatment theranostics to ensure that patients with intractable cancers can receive treatment.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.