Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine is a medical specialty involving the use of radioactive materials or radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Nuclear medicine scans provide information on both the anatomy and the physiology of the body and can be used to determine the presence of disease based on the function of the organ, tissue or bone.

Through the use of radioactive material, our team can assess organ function, evaluate for the presence of disease, and effectively treat certain conditions. For diagnostic purposes, the radiopharmaceuticals emit photon radiation that is detected by special cameras to produce images which are read by the physicians. For therapeutic purposes, the radiopharmaceuticals emit particle radiation which can cause biological damage, injuring or destroying cancer cells. The Department of Nuclear Medicine is an integrated and aligned team of professionals, with different niche expertise, all with the common goal to lead clinical, educational, and research endeavors in the effort of Making Cancer History®.

Led by Homer A. Macapinlac, M.D., the Department is a cohesive team of healthcare professionals, research scientists and administrative staff. Together in 2014, the Nuclear Medicine team performed over 14,675 nuclear medicine diagnostic scans, 19,000 PET scans, 7,000 Bone Density (DEXA) scans and 550 therapy treatments. In addition to providing clinical nuclear medicine and PET/CT services, our clinicians actively participate in innovative research on new diagnostic and therapeutic agents that could prove to be beneficial to our patients. The Nuclear Medicine team is working hard to integrate innovative diagnostic tracers and therapies to provide state-of-the-art cancer care.