One of the oldest, tried-and-true theranostics still commonly used today is a pair of radioactive iodine tracers for thyroid cancer. We've performed this procedure successfully for decades and it remains an important part of our tool box for treating thyroid cancer. Unlike other theranostic procedures that are administered intravenously, this one is given as a pill or liquid.
Modern theranostic medicine uses sophisticated biochemistry to treat cancers such as:
Neuroendocrine cancer. Lu 177 dotatate (Lutathera) has revolutionized the way we treat neuroendocrine tumors, in particular carcinoids. The dotatate targets somatostatin receptors on the tumor cells.
Prostate cancer. Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan PSMA (Pluvicto) treats patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer who have already had androgen receptor pathway inhibition and taxane-based chemotherapy. Patients receive an infusion every six weeks for a total of six treatments. UChicago Medicine is the only hospital in the region to have been involved in the Lu 177 PSMA managed access program prior to its FDA approval.
Adult pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma; pediatric neuroblastoma. I131-iobenguane / MIBG (Azedra) is used to treat pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma in adults and a related drug to treat neuroblastoma in children.