BEIJING: China needs to speed up the research and development of radiopharmaceuticals and other nuclear therapy products to meet rising domestic demand, according to a chief scientist in the field.
Du Jin, director of the Radiopharmaceutical Research and Development Center of the China Atomic Energy Authority, said last month in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, that the needs of radiopharmaceuticals and other products used in nuclear medicine therapy in the Chinese market are far from being sufficiently met.
He said the proportion of Chinese people with access to the combined examination of positron emission tomography/computed tomography, an advanced nuclear medicine method used to detect malignant tumors, is much smaller than in the United States, Japan and the European Union.
Statistically speaking, Du said, the amount of equipment for PET-CT in China is only 4 percent of that in the US. Similarly, the number of radiotherapy apparatus in the US is almost eight times that in China.
“Up to 70 percent of cancer patients in developed countries are exposed to precision radiotherapy, while the ratio in China is only about 20 percent,” the scientist said.
The demand for radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear therapies continues to rise globally, underscoring the value of the nuclear medicine industry, he noted.
The good news, the scientist said, is that the government has realized the importance of supporting the research and development of radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear therapies, and has published guidelines to boost the industry.
Du is also chief researcher at China Isotope and Radiation Corp, a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp, which is involved in nuclear medicine and radiation processing businesses. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
