Update: the case for patient-specific dosimetry in radionuclide therapy

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Therapy
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Current practice in radiopharmaceutical therapy relies on fixed activity or activity per unit body weight.
• This approach lacks personalization and may not optimize therapeutic radiation doses.
• Other radiation therapy modalities routinely utilize patient-specific dosimetry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for the routine implementation of patient-individualized radiation dose assessment in radiopharmaceutical therapy.
• To address and refute common objections to patient-specific dosimetry.
• To demonstrate the superiority of dosimetry-based approaches over current practices.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and analysis of general practices in radiopharmaceutical therapy.
• Examination of findings supporting patient-specific dosimetry.
• Comparison of the cost and difficulty of standardized, automated dosimetry methods with current practices.

Main Results:

• Patient-individualized dosimetry correlates well with observed therapeutic effects.
• Dosimetry-based approaches lead to improved patient outcomes and enhanced quality of medical care.
• Standardized and automated patient-specific dosimetry methods are comparable in cost and difficulty to existing modalities.

Conclusions:

• Patient-specific dosimetry in radiopharmaceutical therapy is a superior and cost-effective paradigm.
• Routine adoption of individualized radiation dose assessment is recommended for better patient care.
• The time is appropriate for this advanced dosimetry approach to become standard practice.