Theranostics, a new cancer treatment, has taken the world of medicine by storm. Theranostics is a specific type of therapy used to treat a variety of cancers, from prostate, breast, thyroid, bone and more.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has an active theranostics program and is in the process of conducting Phase 1 clinical trials on new theranostic treatments.

According to the National Cancer Institute, theranostics, at its most basic, is a fusion of therapy and diagnosis. For example, oncologists may use this concept by blending chemotherapy, gene therapy, and radiation with a variety of diagnostic techniques and radiation targeting certain cancer cells.

With close collaboration between the UI’s Department of Radiation and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, theranostics has taken a new form at UIHC.

Michael Henry, deputy director of the UI’s Holden Comprehensive Care Center and UI professor, said as technology continues to evolve and new cancer treatments are put to the test, artificial intelligence will likely become a component, likely in the form of imaging.

Theranostics offers a way to improve precision and be more patient specific, which is what makes it new and innovative, compared to other treatment plans.

“This is a new and innovative form of cancer treatment and I think that as it continues to evolve, we will see the mark it has made,” Henry said.

These techniques often include Positron Emission Tomography, or PET scans, computed tomography, computed tomography (CT scans) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Theranostics combines the use of radioactive drugs, first used to identify a tumor and diagnose a cancer, and then used to deliver a therapy to the metastatic tumor sites that have been identified by the diagnostic, Thaddeus Wadas, the Associate Professor at the Department of Radiation Oncology, said.

Henry describes this treatment as a “lock and key” mechanism.

“Theranostics combine the ability to see where a patient’s tumor is and then to target that tumor with radiation,” Henry said.

The treatment itself is what is known as systemic radiotherapy, meaning that it has been created in a tube, outside of the human body, and then injected into the patient.

Currently, there are two FDA approved theranostic treatments. One can be used for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, while the other can be used for advanced metastatic prostate cancer.

Both forms of treatment have proved successful and with this newer modality of treatment, and high-risk cancer patients now have a new form of treatment, Henry said.

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Regarding safety, this new form of treatment is much safer than that of regular radiation therapy, Henry said, and has a lower toxicity rate.

“Though this is a very new form of treatment, it is a part of a variety of different approaches to cancer treatment, and for those with advanced prostate cancer especially, it offers a new avenue for patients who may have believed they have no options left,” Henry said.