Filipinos will soon have an affordable Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) test for their cancer diagnosis, and no longer suffer from its very prohibitive costs of about P70,000 to P100,000 and more.
This will be made possible with the start of the construction of the Nuclear Medicine Research and Innovation Centre (NMRIC), which will house a medical cyclotron and PET-CT Imaging Centers—the first government facility that will house these equipment in one setting.
The Department of Science and Technology and Philippine Nuclear Research Institute officials recently held the groundbreaking for the construction of the center inside the DOST-PNRI compound in Quezon City, the institute’s news release said.
The construction is expected to be completed in 2023 and the facility to be operational by 2024.
Leading the groundbreaking ceremony that was beamed online was Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, together with DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, for Research and Development (R&D), and DOST-PNRI Director Carlo A. Arcilla.
“Through this Centre, cancer staging and management will be more affordable and reachable to the common Filipino people,” de la Peña said in his message during the event.
He emphasized that the establishment of the Centre is “in line with the goals of universal health care for the Filipino people.”
He said in hi Facebook account that the costs of the services of NMRIC are estimated to be cheaper by 20 percent to 30 percent compared to the hospital rates.
“That will be a big help to our countrymen who are in need of affordable services for cancer staging and management,” de la Peña said partly in Filipino.
The Science chief noted in his message during the groundbreaking event that in the Philippines, cancer is one of the top non-communicable killers with a mortality rate of 60 percent. There were about 153,751 new cases of cancer in the country in 2020.
He added that it is projected that by 2040 the number of cancer incidences will increase by 69.4 percent for the male population and 56.8 percent for the female population.
“[Besides] the personal loss of the families with members who died of cancer, the economic impact of cancer is significant and increasing. Twelve years ago, in 2010, the total annual economic cost of cancer in 2010 was estimated at $1.16 trillion,” de la Peña said.
Cyclotron and PET-CT scans
The Centre’s medical cyclotron will produce the PET radiopharmaceuticals, which will be used to produce images that will help physicians diagnose almost all types of cancers, heart diseases, and neurological, immunology disorders and other abnormalities.
In contrast to invasive procedures where doctors make incisions or punctures, PET-CT scans are non-invasive, clinically proven, cost-effective and safe procedures in investigating the condition of a certain organ or to confirm the suspicion of a disease.
Nuclear medicine is a process of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals.
Injected to a patient, these radiophramaceuticals special drugs emit low doses of radiation—which are not harmful to people—produce images that are tracked by physicians through the use of specially designed cameras, de la Peña explained.
Images of target tissues produced by the radiopharmaceuticals help physicians diagnose or treat a variety of diseases, especially cancers.
De la Peña noted that there are currently only three operational cyclotrons in the country—all of them are in Metro Manila. Some cyclotron facilities are being constructed in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Nuclear med training and R&D hub
Besides helping make cancer diagnostics and treatment more affordable to Filipinos, Guevara said in her message during the event that the Centre will also become a training hub for human resources development in the fields of PET radiochemistry, PET radiopharmaceutical production and quality control, and hybrid imaging services.
She also said that the establishment of the Centre will step up the country’s researches in new and emerging radiopharmaceuticals other than radiotracer F18 fluorodeoxyglucose; novel radioisotopes for PET like metallic radiopharmaceuticals; treatment modality and management in oncology or cancer.
Also in researches on neuro-related degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and others; PET application in studying pulmonary inspections due to Covid 19; and radiation metrics and safety.
Guevara added that the Centre will likewise enable multi-disciplinary and collaborative research among physicists, physicians, pharmacists, chemists, molecular biologists, and others.
For PNRI Chief Arcilla the project “is also a personal advocacy.” He disclosed that his own sister battled with cancer which was diagnosed late.
“As this Centre will offer more affordable services, it will help in the early diagnosis of cancer which will have better chances of cure,” he said during the groundbreaking.
He disclosed that the radiopharmaceuticals to be produced by the Centre’s cyclotron facility will also be used in a cancer center that will be established by the UP-Philippine General Hospital beside the PNRI compound, the institute’s news release said.
The project is under the program “Innovating Nuclear Medicine Research and Services: Development of Emerging PET Radiopharmaceuticals for Early Cancer Staging and Assessment of Biologic Functions in Cancer Cells.”
It is led by Adelina DM. Bulos, with the assistance of DOST-PNRI S&T Fellow and former Balik Scientist Dr. Thomas Neil B. Pascual.
S&T Media Services
Image credits: Framelia V. Anonas, PNRI