THE JOURNEY TOWARD PRECISION NUCLEAR MEDICINE TO COMBAT CANCER BY TIHA M. LONG, PHD
Nuclear medicine has been a mainstay of cancer diagnosis and treatment for over half a century, but only recently is this field moving into the realm of precision medicine. Research teams at the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center draw from a rich history in this diagnostic and therapeutic area and continue to lead these advancements. THE BEGINNINGS OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE AT UCHICAGO The seeds leading to the launch of nuclear medicine were planted at UChicago in the historic moment in 1942 when the world’s first nuclear reactor was used to create the first self-sustaining, controlled nuclear chain reaction. As an academic institution and a hospital, there was an immense interest in harnessing nuclear technology for previously unimagined advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In 1954, the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital opened its doors on the UChicago campus. This was the largest facility ever built for the purpose of cancer research and treatment using nuclear medicine. The Argonne Cancer Research Hospital attracted researchers and clinicians who together spawned the field of modern nuclear medicine.
The early team included Katherine Austin Lathrop, once a professor in the department of radiology, an early pioneer in radiopharmaceuticals since 1945. Paul Harper, MD, was a professor who joined the departments of surgery and radiology in 1953. Robert Beck, a long-time faculty in the department of radiology, joined the team in 1957. And Alex Gottschalk, MD, joined the radiology faculty in 1964. Lathrop, with colleagues Harper, Beck and Gottschalk, launched the field of modern nuclear medicine with the development of an imaging technique using a radiotracer labeled with technetium-99m (99mTc), the most commonly used medical radioisotope today. After numerous advancements in nuclear medicine in just two decades, the installation of new equipment, and the development of powerful technologies, would allow for rapid and expansive growth of the field.
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