Medical experts have called for greater adoption of radiopharmaceutical therapy in cancer care, saying the targeted treatment could reduce the damaging effects often associated with conventional chemotherapy and improve the quality of life of cancer patients.
The experts spoke recently at the 2026 International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy held at the Loveworld Medical Centre, Lagos.
The symposium brought together local and international specialists in nuclear medicine, oncology and radiopharmaceutical therapy to examine advances in precision oncology and the prospects of expanding access to advanced cancer treatment in Nigeria and other African countries.
The Medical Director of Loveworld Medical Centre and Chairman of the symposium, Dr Emeka Eze, described radiopharmaceutical therapy as an emerging direction in cancer treatment because of its ability to target diseased cells more precisely.
Eze said conventional chemotherapy could affect healthy cells because the treatment attacks rapidly dividing cells, a process also common to some normal tissues.
He listed some of the complications associated with chemotherapy as hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and bone marrow suppression.
“Precision oncology is targeted care. These radionuclear materials only target diseased cells. They don’t go after all rapidly dividing cells,” Eze said.
He added that nuclear medicine was not limited to cancer treatment, noting that it could also assist in detecting diseases and abnormalities affecting organs including the heart, kidneys and liver.
According to him, the centre has a gamma camera and facilities for nuclear medicine procedures, allowing specialists to combine advanced diagnosis with targeted treatment.
Also speaking, the Scientific Chair of ISRT 2026 and Director of Operations and Head of Nuclear Medicine at Loveworld Medical Centre, Dr Marsha Maharaj, explained that theranostics involves using diagnostic information to identify a disease pathway and then treating the same pathway with a targeted radiopharmaceutical.
Maharaj, who is also President-elect of the World Association of Radiopharmaceutical and Molecular Therapy, said this approach was fundamentally different from chemotherapy.
“Chemotherapy is treatment that addresses a particular process within a cell. But that process is common to both normal and abnormal cells,” she said.
She explained that radiopharmaceutical therapy could instead attach to specific receptors expressed by tumour cells, enabling treatment to be concentrated on the cancer.
“Whereas in theragnostics, it binds to a particular receptor that is expressed by that tumour. So it directly targets that tumour cell, causing the least to no harm to any cell adjacent to that,” Maharaj said.
She also distinguished theranostics from conventional radiotherapy, which delivers radiation externally through a machine and may expose surrounding healthy tissues while targeting a tumour.
Maharaj disclosed that the centre had treated patients with different cancers, including prostate, breast, colorectal, lung cancer and sarcoma.
She said the facility had also commenced actinium-based treatment, describing the development as part of the expansion of targeted cancer therapy in Nigeria.
The specialist, however, acknowledged that the cost of advanced cancer treatment remained a challenge, stressing the importance of foundations and other intervention programmes in helping patients who could not afford treatment.
She said patients should also take greater interest in understanding their treatment options and should discuss emerging therapies with their doctors.
“Knowledge is power. You have to look out for yourself and increase your own knowledge as any patient,” Maharaj said.
She added that the symposium was also designed to train doctors and other healthcare professionals on patient selection, treatment and management in nuclear medicine.
Earlier, the Executive Minister, Ministry of Healing, Healthcare and Docual Services and Chairman of Loveworld Medical Centre, Dr Adeola Philips, said the symposium was part of efforts to build local capacity in advanced cancer care.
Philips said the first edition of ISRT was held in Nigeria in 2024, while the 2026 edition attracted more than 120 registered participants.
She said the focus should extend beyond keeping patients alive to ensuring that cancer patients maintain dignity and quality of life during treatment.
“The measure of progress in cancer care cannot only be determined by how long we extend life, but how well the patients are able to live,” Philips said.
She said developing expertise in nuclear medicine locally would strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system and create opportunities for other African countries to benefit from the knowledge and experience being developed on the continent.
The symposium featured presentations and training sessions focused on radiopharmaceutical therapy, precision oncology, nuclear medicine and emerging approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Ake Ayodeji
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