Three-step Nuclear Medicine to Treat Colorectal Cancer

A new, three-step system that uses nuclear medicine to target and eliminates colorectal cancer has been developed by a team of research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. Theranostics, a term derived from therapy and diagnostics, is the use of a single agent to both diagnose and treat disease. The theranostic agent first finds the cancer cells, then destroys them, leaving healthy cells unharmed--minimizing side effects and improving quality of life for patients.