Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Contrast agent developer Bracco Diagnostics is preparing for a relaunch of its cardiac PET tracer, CardioGen-82, after the radiopharmaceutical was pulled off the market in mid-2011.
Bracco voluntarily suspended sales of CardioGen in July following reports that several patients injected with the tracer had higher-than-expected levels of radiation days after the procedure, according to an article by features editor Wayne Forrest in our Molecular Imaging Digital Community.
Only a few patients were affected, and the radiation dose levels were not high enough to cause severe health effects. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on the incidents, and Bracco voluntarily pulled CardioGen-82 as it investigated the issue.
It now appears that there were no problems with the manufacture of the radiopharmaceutical, and Bracco plans to put the product back on the market by the end of the first quarter. Nuclear medicine practitioners will once again have access to this fast-growing tracer.
Is the incident an example of overreaction to radiation hysteria, or simply a case of prudent regulation in cautious times? It's not for us to judge, but you can make your own decision by clicking here, or visit the community at molecular.auntminnie.com.
Cancer deaths fall in U.S.
In other news, the American Cancer Society (ACS) this week reported that death rates from cancer in the U.S. have declined slightly, continuing a 10-year trend.
In total, the trend of lower death rates since 1990 amounts to more than 1 million deaths avoided, the ACS said.
Still, one in four deaths in the U.S. each year is caused by cancer, according to the society, and both incidence and death rates vary widely between ethnic groups. Get the rest of the details by clicking here, or visit our Radiation Oncology Digital Community at radiation.auntminnie.com.
