Imaging Vital for Personalized Medicine to Succeed

Personalized medicine--a new approach to therapy designed for the individual patient--is a popular concept in healthcare today, but according to a new market research report, it will be driven by the imaging industry, in particular the new molecular technologies. If images can reveal not just the heightened metabolic activity characteristic of tumors but the tumors' chemical signatures, physicians can devise individualized therapies. They will lead to more effective treatments at a lower cost, according to a recent market report.

Today, virtually nothing of significance takes place in medicine without an image, according to healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA). While medical imaging equipment markets have experienced a drop in sales due to the recession, this is not the case for contrast agents and radiopharmaceuticals. Healthcare market research publisher Kalorama expects annual growth rates for contrast agents used with most modalities to range from 5-11%. Radiopharmaceuticals, which are radioactive pharmaceuticals used as tracers in the diagnosis and treatment of many illnesses in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, will experience slightly stronger annual growth--in the range of 10-16% from US$830 million in 2008.

Nuclear medicine, including single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), will transform how diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's are treated. Using radiopharmaceuticals, after the illness is identified and treatment begins, doctors can evaluate its effectiveness by tracking the production or inhibition of amyloids, instead of waiting months to evaluate subjectively whether behavior has changed. If a drug does not have the desired effect, treatment can be adjusted.

"Because molecular imaging allows for functional as well as anatomical imaging, diseases can be diagnosed at a much earlier stage and individualized therapies applied,” noted Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. "With nuclear medicine making gains as a powerful tool for identifying and targeting the root of disease, radiopharmaceutical contrast agents are sure to enjoy strong growth.”

Both diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals are becoming increasingly important as the market shifts towards molecular imaging, which is expected to remain at the forefront of research given its unique ability to image molecular abnormalities that are the basis of disease and the processes that are in progress, prior to the structural changes produced by the processes.

Kalorama Information supplies independent market research in the life sciences, as well as custom research services.

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