Siemens Healthineers, Massachusetts General Hospital Enter Research Pact

Siemens Healthineers Molecular Imaging has entered into a research collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to support theranostics use. The ability to diagnose disease with one radiopharmaceutical and treat it with a similar therapeutic agent, theranostics has been used to treat certain types of cancers, including thyroid, prostate, and neuroendocrine malignancies. Typically, molecular imaging is used in theranostics to identify the extent of disease and monitor treatment response.

“This research collaboration, which is based on a relationship between Siemens Healthineers and Massachusetts General Hospital that spans more than 20 years, will enable innovations along the patient’s clinical pathway, provide precision diagnoses, and deliver highly effective forms of customized therapy,” said James Williams, Ph.D., head of Siemens Healthineers Molecular Imaging.

Siemens Healthineers and MGH will establish a Therapy Command Center to support theranostics use across MGH and its affiliated centers in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. The Therapy Command Center will help MGH collect theranostics-related data, provide real-time monitoring capabilities, and support physicians in determining the most appropriate path forward for each patient.

“The Therapy Command Center helps provide a framework that will enable the integration of a wide variety of patient imaging and laboratory data, combined with population-based data for enhanced individual patient outcomes,” said Umar Mahmood, M.D., Ph.D., chief of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital. “This collaboration will help expand theranostics across the region, advancing personalized medicine through precision diagnoses and tailored therapies. Our focus on examining radiation’s impact on tumors and normal tissues will further improve treatment protocols and outcomes while decreasing toxicity to normal organs.”

As part of this collaboration, Siemens Healthineers and MGH researchers will use Biograph Vision Quadra and Biograph Trinion positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanners to examine the effects of radiation on molecular and biological processes, as well as the toxicity levels in the cancer cells and healthy tissues of patients who receive radiopharmaceutical therapy. Understanding these effects is crucial to advancing the concept of personalized medicine.

Siemens Healthineers provides healthcare equipment, solutions, and services worldwide, with activities in more than 180 countries and direct representation in over 70. The group comprises Siemens Healthineers AG, listed as SHL in Frankfurt, Germany, and its subsidiaries. The company is principally active in the areas of imaging, diagnostics, cancer care and minimally invasive therapies, augmented by digital technology and artificial intelligence. In fiscal 2024, (ended Sept. 30), Siemens Healthineers employed approximately 72,000 workers worldwide and generated €22.4 billion in revenue.