Filenews 16 January 2023 - by Despina Psylou
"The moments follow one another and all have their own peculiarity. Each one important. No day is like another", notes Savvas Fragos, nuclear doctor at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre. As he clarified, this not so popular specialty, contributes, among other things, to the diagnosis and treatment of tumours / cancers and heart diseases. Dr. Frangos spoke to "F" on the occasion of his recent election to the presidency of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB). He will remain in the post of elected president for two years, so that he will take over immediately after the presidency of the Federation for the years 2025-2026.
"I was born and raised in Limassol, originally from Pellapais, Kyrenia. I studied medicine in West Berlin, Germany, and was there in the historic moments of the fall of the wall. My involvement with nuclear medicine was completely accidental. I started working in one of the largest hospitals in the German capital and as time went on the more interesting and exciting I found the specialty." Then, he clarifies, he completed his knowledge in Thessaloniki. He is now permanently in Cyprus, "where at first I worked in my own diagnostic centre and then I took over the Department of Nuclear Medicine and the Thyroid Cancer Clinic at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre".
In his long career, Dr. Frangos has had multiple publications in reputable journals, while he is also a member of the editorial team of the European and Panhellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine. "I am very often a guest speaker at various local and international conferences," he says.
Nuclear medicine, as he explained about his science, makes use of radioactive elements associated with tracers and placed inside the patient's body to give valuable functional images of the organs being tested. "Almost all human organs are examined with special emphasis on Oncology and Cardiology. By placing radioactive elements in greater activity, treatment can be performed where the tracer is recruited. The combination in question is called "theragnostics", i.e. use of the same tracer for diagnosis and treatment. In some cases, direct use is made of the radioactive substance that has the property of uptake into the organ. This was the beginning of nuclear medicine, when radioactive iodine was used to treat the thyroid in 1946." It is, as he said, the exact same method that is still done today for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
A recent discovery of nuclear medicine concerns the application of the "theragnostics" method, that is, the diagnosis and treatment in prostate cancer. "Specifically, a PET/CT test is performed with a tracer of a specific prostate membrane antigen (PSMA). When the diagnostic test detects pathological findings, then the PSMA is marked with radioactivity with high activity and given for treatment with impressive results".
Research in the field of nuclear medicine continues with undiminished interest. "Radioactivity is divided into α, β and γ. Until now, gamma radiation was used for diagnosis and β for treatment. Research is now focused on the use of α radiation for treatment that has the advantage of high energy but also very short range, so that malignant cells are destroyed without the effect on healthy cells. Also, a lot of research is being done in laboratories to discover substances that can act as tracers for the most accurate diagnosis and treatment."
The work of the Cypriot scientist shone
Regarding the election process, Dr. Frangos noted that "it is done at the suggestion of the candidate's Society of Nuclear Medicine and the right to vote is granted to the Nuclear Medicine Societies from around the world, which are members of the World Federation. The election takes place among the individuals known worldwide for their scientific activity and their participation in the public affairs of nuclear doctors. I have served as secretary of the European Society of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), as secretary and treasurer of the nuclear medicine department of the Association of European Medical Specialists (UEMS), as well as treasurer of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology. My lieutenant was the president of the Swiss Society of Nuclear Medicine and a long-time representative of the Federation to the World Health Organization (WHO)."
The election process, he clarified, was done online and announced during the general meeting of company representatives in Barcelona in October 2022. "The election is for the position of President-elect for a period of two years and then I will assume the presidency for 2025 and 2026."
The World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB) was founded in 1970, at a conference of the Association of Latin American Societies of Biology and Nuclear Medicine in Mexico. "The aim was to create a global representation of national Nuclear Medicine Societies and the organization of world conferences. The first World Congress of Nuclear Medicine was held in 1974 in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan. For 48 years the World Federation has served as a link in nuclear medicine worldwide. Since the first world congress, 11 more have been organized around the world."
By the end of 2018, Dr. Franks said, the president, general secretary and treasurer of the Federation came from the congress' host country. Now, due to a change in the statutes in 2019, they are elected by the member states. "The federation's council also includes representatives of the different councils from West and Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Arabian Peninsula. Also, a representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The federation participates in the World Health Organization as a non-state body."
