Nuclear techniques in the detection and management of cancer

by R.D. Piyasena, A. Cuaron, and M. Nofal is a major health problem of our times. Expectations that a single causative agent — and thus a single cure — would be identified have now been dispelled and current medical opinion favours the view that each cancer is unique and needs an individual approach. Many factors such as smoking, betel chewing, viral agents, and ultraviolet light have been identified as causing cancer. Recently, the possibly vital role of "cancer risk genes" (oncogenes), which are aberrant forms of normal genes, has been noted. Significant, and sometimes spectacular, advances have also been made in cancer treatment, by conventional methods of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy in addition to the more recent approaches of immunotherapy and genetic manipulation. There is no question, however, that, in most cancers, detection at the earliest possible stage still remains a key factor that determines the final outcome. In this regard, matters are not as satisfactory as would be desired. In lung cancer, for instance, only about 20% of cases are diagnosed before the disease has spread. Improved diagnostic methods are therefore required.