The information was released by Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City on December 6. The two new radioactive medicines used in PET/CT scans are Ga-68 PSMA for prostate cancer and Ga-68 Dotatate for neuroendocrine tumors.

According to Dr Nguyen Xuan Canh, head of the Nuclear Medicine Department of Cho Ray Hospital, the two drugs have been used widely in the world. They were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2020 and 2016.

However, not all countries could produce Ga-68 PSMA and Ga-68 Dotatate. Therefore, patients had to go abroad if they were prescribed PET/CT scans with the two drugs.

The Nuclear Medicine Department has spent a long time on research, exchanging professional knowledge and preparing human resources to develop the drugs. On November 7, Cho Ray Hospital stated it has become the first medical facility in Vietnam which successfully prepared and put the two drugs into use.

In the last month, 12 prostate cancer and 9 neuroendocrine tumor patients got PET/CT scan with the new drugs at Cho Ray Hospital. The analyses after the scan showed the effectiveness of the two techniques in diagnosing and treating diseases.

According to Canh, Cho Ray Hospital has deployed PET/CT scans with the drug F-18 FDG to evaluate glucose metabolism in many types of cancer since 2009. However, prostate cancer cells and neuroendocrine tumor cells rarely use glucose, so they show poor diagnostic results.

With new technology to help detect 2 types of cancer, clinicians will have more information to diagnose, stage, choose reasonable treatment methods, and monitor treatment results.

PET/CT technique is a high-tech imaging diagnostic system helping to diagnose, monitor and treat many diseases, including cancer, and neurological and cardiovascular diseases. The technique has been applied at Cho Ray Hospital since 2009, with an average of 12-15 PET/CT scans per day.

In addition to colorectal cancer, health insurance pays for four other types of PET/CT scans, up to two times per person within the first 12 months, if they meet the conditions set by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

PET/CT scan is a high tech, costly technique. Under MOH’s Circular 39, the fee for one PET/CT scan is VND19,724,000, while PET/CT scan simulating radiotherapy costs VND20,478,000. These two prices do not include the contrast material.

Linh Trang