Theranostics is a field in precision medicine that allows for personalised treatment and monitoring of effectiveness. As such, it is a revolutionary form of treatment for cancer. It involves combining a radioactive drug to identify and diagnose the cancer, and a second radioactive drug to deliver treatment to the main tumour and to any metastatic tumours.
St Vincent’s Theranostics Clinical Research has been extensively published, and the department is involved in multi-site, multidisciplinary clinical trials across Australia, in addition to conducting its own early phase studies.
The Director of Theranostics and Nuclear Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Professor Louise Emmett, has been instrumental in developing the radiopharmacy initiative at St Vincent’s, and has introduced multiple new radioisotopes for clinical and research purposes. Professor Emmett’s research has had significant impacts on prostate cancer treatment, quality of life, and survival rates for patients.