In May, Sergio Calvo took to the stage at ESTRO 2024, Europe's largest industry exhibition in radiation oncology, and shared his favorite slide with the audience. “It’s a classic one, from 2018,” said Calvo, the Global General Manager for Theranostics at GE HealthCare, as he clicked the image up on the big screen.
It showed a grid of Positron Emission Topography (PET) scans of torsos for eight men, taken before and after therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. The ‘before’ images were flecked with bright red blobs, indicating the presence of cancerous cells. Some scans looked like rashes or mild cases of chicken pox, while others were suffused in scarlet, indicating cancers that had not only escaped the pelvic area, but appeared to be growing out of control.
Calvo then called the audience’s attention to the ‘after’ scans. A couple of images bore the odd stubborn red spot, but most looked like they’d been wiped clean. These eight men, whom Calvo calls “super-responders,” were either cancer-free, or well on their way to that state thanks to theranostics, a branch of medicine that combines diagnosis and therapy to identify and eliminate cancer cells and tumors. All the men had received an injection of a nuclear medicine tracer to pinpoint the exact location of cancer cells, followed by a targeted radiation therapy of Lutetium-177 to burn them out. “It’s a miracle drug for those who respond,” Calvo told delegates. “This field [theranostics] has incredible potential.”
Calvo is optimistic that theranostics can help to treat all kinds of cancers, creating new cohorts of super-responders and offering hope to millions of patients worldwide. But he had a message for ESTRO delegates:
Healthcare systems can only tap theranostics’ full potential if they beef up their diagnostic capacity with sophisticated tools that can help them meet rampant demand, treat a broader range of cancers, and address the increasing complexity of the field.
Calvo believes that GE HealthCare wields a competitive edge in the space. “We intersect with the theranostics value chain in 10 areas,” he told delegates, citing products such as cyclotrons, major chemistry solutions and molecular imaging agents on the scientific side. “On the imaging and advanced visualization side, we offer PET scanners, SPECT scanners, software, and we have a large team of AI experts.”
With the stage set, Calvo was keen to drill down into the topic during a fireside chat with Dr. Ilya Gipp, GE HealthCare’s Oncology Chief Medical Officer. Here follows an edited version of their conversation at ESTRO:
Sergio Calvo: We’re always emphasizing the ultra-high resolution and sensitivity of GE HealthCare’s PET scanners – can you explain why?
Dr. Ilya Gipp:
We’re always striving for greater resolution and sensitivity in imaging. As for nuclear medicine, I particularly value its greater sensitivity, as in addition to enabling superior ability to detect, it allows us to shorten the time a patient spends in the scanner. After treatment, in order to predict outcomes sooner rather than later, it’s crucial to quickly assess how the pharmaceutical is distributed in the body. That ability to complete a scan in just 10 minutes is vital for patients who aren’t feeling well.
But there’s more to it. Throughput efficiency is a major concern in healthcare today. If we can scan faster without sacrificing image resolution or clinical relevance, it’s a significant advancement. So, higher sensitivity and higher resolution are always important.
SC: Let’s move onto the fascinating topic of AI in theranostics. Do you believe that AI will play a role? And how will it connect to the development and the engineering of our systems in this field?
IG: I genuinely believe that AI is not just a buzzword; it's a real necessity. Looking ahead, we're discussing applications where we can predictively build prognostic models to understand how therapy will affect patients. Although our focus today might be on later stages of cancer, our goal is to eventually address a broader range of stages, more applications, a wider variety of molecules, and additional isotopes. This will inevitably lead to a greater volume of data. If there's one thing we know, it's that computers handle data far better than we do. This opens the door for AI to play a crucial role in reducing the burden of cancer through the application of radiopharmaceutical therapy.
I’d like to add one more point, especially as we talk about better scanners with higher sensitivity. AI models are only as effective as the data used to train them. That’s why building an excellent scanner isn't just about imaging; it’s also about providing our customers with high-quality data that can be used to develop better algorithms for Deep Learning and AI itself.
SC: How does our acquisition of MIM Software help in this regard?
IG:
MIM is a strong team with a portfolio of solutions that has been making a significant impact in nuclear medicine. They have an impressive track record in enabling the adoption of quantification, accurate reporting of findings, and enhancing the personalization of therapies. Our commitment goes beyond simply integrating MIM's products into nuclear medicine. It also sends a clear signal to the market and our users that this is a key area of focus for us. We're preparing to expand this focus by developing solutions that will extract even greater relevance from the studies available today, as well as those that will emerge in the future.
SC: So we have the imaging tools and the AI software for theranostics, but what about partnerships? How can they help?
IG:
We are committed to building partnerships that truly matter, helping everyone involved to reduce complexity. It's clear now that no one can achieve this alone, and it is crucial to assess our strengths, as well as identify areas where we can expand our contributions, to then collaborate in advancing the field. I believe that theranostics and radiopharmaceutical therapy are at the very beginning of their evolution, poised to transition from being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have.’ As patients begin to demand these types of treatments, it will further drive their adoption and growth.
Watch the full program by clicking on this link
