[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 78 (Friday, May 11, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING MOLECULAR IMAGING WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2007

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remind my 
colleagues that June 3-9 is Molecular Imaging Week. This year, 
Molecular Imaging Week is coinciding with SNM's (formally known as the 
Society of Nuclear Medicine) 54th Annual Meeting, which is taking place 
here in Washington, D.C. Based in Reston Virginia, SNM, with over 3,900 
professional attendees and 180 exhibiting companies, will hold the 
world's largest event focused exclusively on the fields of nuclear 
medicine and molecular imaging in Washington, D.C. this year.
  Annually, more than 20 million men, women, and children need 
noninvasive molecular/nuclear medicine procedures. These safe, cost-
effective procedures include positron emission tomography (PET) scans 
to diagnose and monitor treatment of cancer, diagnose neurological 
disease such as Alzheimer's and stroke, cardiac stress tests, bone 
scans and follow-up for breast and prostate cancer patients, and lung 
scans for blood clots.
  Molecular imaging and therapy procedures provide safe, painless, and 
cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. These 
procedures are crucial in the early diagnosis of cancer, renal disease, 
cardiac disease, and Alzheimer's. Imaging procedures often identify 
abnormalities very early in the progress of a disease--long before many 
medical problems are apparent with other diagnostic tests. The 
techniques that are used in molecular imaging include radiotracer 
imaging/nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic 
resonance spectroscopy (MRS), optical imaging, the PET scan, ultrasound 
and others.
  Molecular imaging offers unique insights that allow a more targeted 
approach to evaluation and management of heart disease. It also plays a 
pivotal role in guiding the management of cancer: diagnosis, staging 
(extent and location), assessing therapeutic targets, monitoring 
therapy, and evaluating prognosis; and is playing an increasingly 
significant role in conditions such as tumors, dementias (Alzheimer's 
and other), movement disorders, seizures disorders and psychiatric 
disorders.
  Molecular imaging delivers on the promise of ``personalized 
medicine''--it can provide patient-specific information that allows 
tailored treatment of disease. It can show a precise (molecular) level 
of detail that provides new information for diagnosis. It is also key 
to the development of pharmaceuticals and genetic therapy. Molecular 
therapy can target molecules that deliver the therapeutic agent 
directly to the site of interest, bypassing normal tissue and avoiding 
the toxic side effects of many current therapies.
  In 2005, SNM created the Molecular Imaging Center of Excellence, an 
organizational component within SNM, dedicated to all aspects of 
molecular imaging in the detection and management of disease.
  I applaud SNM and its members for their efforts to educate others on 
this major healthcare innovation during Molecular Imaging Week (June 3-
9), and I urge my Colleagues to join me in supporting policies that 
will continue to keep our Nation on the cutting edge of molecular 
imaging research.

                          ____________________