[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 22, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MOLECULAR IMAGING WEEK

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                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 22, 2009

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge 
this week as Molecular Imaging Week. During this week, the molecular 
imaging and therapy community at hospitals, clinics, imaging centers, 
educational institutions, and corporations around the world, will 
educate Congress and the public about health policy issues related to 
molecular imaging and therapy.
  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 to analyze 
heart function, bone scans for orthopedic injuries and follow-up for 
breast and prostate cancer patients, and lung scans for blood clots. 
Patients also undergo procedures to diagnose liver and gall bladder 
abnormal function and to diagnose and treat hyperthyroidism and thyroid 
cancer.
  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.
  Why is molecular imaging important? It is revolutionizing the 
practice of medicine and is critical to quality health care. 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, for determining which kinds of 
therapy will and will not work for which patient, and for tracking the 
results of a specific therapy to see exactly how well it is working. It 
is also key to the development of pharmaceuticals and genetic therapy. 
Molecular therapy utilizes targeting molecules that deliver the 
therapeutic agent directly to the site of interest, bypassing normal 
tissue that is responsible for the toxic side effects of many current 
therapies.
  Based in Reston, Virginia, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) is 
an international scientific and professional organization founded in 
1954 to promote the science, technology and practical application of 
nuclear medicine. Its 16,000 members are physicians, technologists and 
scientists specializing in the research and practice of molecular 
imaging and nuclear medicine. 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. The primary focal areas of the Center are 
educational programs, professional and intersociety networking, and 
serving as a resource for development and implementation of SNM policy 
in this specialized area.
  I applaud SNM and its members for their efforts to educate others on 
this major healthcare innovation during Molecular Imaging Week (April 
19-25), 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.

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