European Association of Nuclear Medicine Focus 1 Gathers International Prostate Cancer Experts from all Specialties to Address Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Globally, prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death in men. As the options for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer are evolving rapidly, these rapid changes call for the development of guidelines to ensure appropriate treatment for the many patients with prostate cancer.

In this light, the European Association for Nuclear Medicine organized the multidisciplinary EANM Focus 1 conference on prostate cancer, and this effort resulted in a consensus on molecular imaging for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer published in Lancet Oncology.

EANM, representing nuclear medicine specialists who have led advances in novel molecular imaging techniques for prostate cancer, launched Focus 1 to develop consensus statements in prostate cancer using a well-balanced and structured methodology involving patient advocates and a multidisciplinary panel of international experts representing all involved specialties to achieve an unbiased consensus.

Prof. Wim J G Oyen, and Prof. Stefano Fanti, who chaired the event, point out, “the currently available diagnostic and treatment options at various stages of the disease require careful consideration”. This was emphasized by the patient advocates, calling for improved communication and cooperation among the medical specialties involved in diagnosis and treatment of patients with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer was a deserving topic for our first EANM Focus meeting. Clinicians and imagers have different perspectives and ways of thinking, but the EANM Focus 1 conference provided a platform for more interaction and direct communication between the medical specialties, which seems to resonate in future activities such as joint guideline development. For patients with prostate cancer, this will result in a distinct benefit, because having nuclear medicine and radiology represented in medical decision teams means that image interpretation can be integrated into the clinical background. The involvement of Radiology and/or Nuclear Medicine should start as early as the selection process and referral of the patient for imaging and therapy.

Written by: Stefano Fanti, MD, Associate Professor, Director, Nuclear Medicine Division and PET Unit, The Policlinico S. Orsola, Director, Specialty School of Nuclear Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

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