Nuclear medicine

Welcome to the Nuclear Medicine Department

The Nuclear Medicine Department performs medical imaging exams and certain treatments using radioactive drugs.

To diagnose a disease

Diagnostic nuclear medicine makes it possible to observe how certain organs function or to identify diseased tissue.

To do this, a mildly radioactive medication is administered to the patient. Its distribution throughout the body is then visualized using tests called scintigraphy or PET scans (positron emission tomography). These images provide additional information to complement other medical tests.

To treat certain diseases

Nuclear medicine can also be used for therapeutic purposes. This approach, known as targeted internal radiation therapy (TIRT), involves administering a radioactive drug that specifically binds to diseased cells.

The emitted radiation then acts directly on these cells, enabling targeted treatment while minimizing exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.

Theranostics

Personalized medicine is at the heart of what we do: by combining a diagnostic test with a targeted treatment—an approach known as theranostics—we help ensure that each patient receives the most appropriate treatment option.

Make an appointment

Secretariat

• Hours: Mondaythrough Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Phone:02 31 45 50 32
• Fax:02 31 45 51 01
• Email: secretariat.medecinenucleaire@baclesse.unicancer.fr
• Location: Centre ground floor

Hospitalization

Hospitalization in the Vectorized Internal Radiotherapy Treatment Unit

• Open: 24-hour service
• Hospital secretariat: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm: 02 31 45 50 50 ext. 53.73
• Nursing office: 02 31 45 50 50 ext. 53.73
• Location: ^7th floor
• Visitors are not allowed.

Department tasks

Care mission

The Nuclear Medicine Department specializes in cancer and endocrine imaging.

Its main mission is to carry out :

• Scintigraphy: bone, thyroid, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), sentinel lymph node mapping for cancers of the breast, skin, head and neck, and gynecological cancers

• PET/CT: 18FDG, 68Gallium-PSMA, 68Gallium-DOTATOC, 18Fluorocholine, 18F-DOPA

• Thyroid pathology consultations (thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, etc.)
• Thyroid ultrasounds and thyroid fine-needle aspirations.

The department has launched a"Rapid Thyroid Screening Day" to provide a comprehensive evaluation of thyroid nodules.

• Vectorized Internal Radiotherapy (VIR) Treatments:

– Benign and malignant (cancerous) thyroid diseases (131I)

– Prostate cancer (¹⁷⁷Lutetium-PSMA: Pluvicto©, ²²³Radium: Xofigo©)

– Neuroendocrine tumors and meningiomas (¹⁷⁷Lutetium-DOTATATE: Lutathera©)

– Other diseases and cancers in the context of clinical trials

The department has established dedicated RIV care pathways managed by a coordination unit.

Research mission

The department participates in research activities in nuclear medicine and thyroid disorders.

The main areas of research are: 

• Vectorized Internal Radiation Therapy

• Thyroidology

• PET: Instrumentation and New Tracers

• Parathyroid Glands and 18Fluorocholine PET

• Dosimetry

• Artificial Intelligence
• Radiopharmacy

Teaching mission

The Nuclear Medicine Department participates in training programs and serves as a clinical rotation site for medical residents and interns, pharmacy residents and interns, medical radiology technician trainees, and medical physics students.

The department's medical physicist also works with students in the Master's 2 program in radiation protection at Caen.

The team

• Department Head: Dr. Renaud CIAPPUCCINI
• RIV Unit Director: Dr. Elisabeth QUAK
• Health executive: Antoine MARIE
• Nuclear Medicine Physicians: Dr. Renaud CIAPPUCCINI, Dr. Charline LASNON, Dr. Elisabeth QUAK
• Thyroid Unit: Dr.Paul-Antoine BOMPAIN, Dr. Candice BULKE, Dr. Renaud CIAPPUCCINI, Dr. Véronique LE HENAFF, Dr. Barbara LIREUX
• Radiation Protection: Alain BATALLA, Sophie DE SAINT VAAST
• Medical physicist: Cyril JAUDET
• Radiopharmacists: Dr Gauthier FOUCRAS, Dr Anaïs PRIGENT
• 15 Medical Radiology Technicians
• 2 Nursing Assistants
• 5 Medical Assistants

Equipment

• 3 gamma cameras :
  • 1 BRIVO GE (2016)
  • 1 INTEVO bold Siemens (2020) coupled to an X-ray location scanner
  • 1 Pro-SPECTA Siemens (2025) paired with a positioning X-ray scanner
• 1 Philips Vereos CT scanner (2017)
• 5 radiation-shielded rooms

Accreditations and Activities

• Accreditations: EARL FDG PET/CT Center of Excellence – EARL Theranostics Center of Excellence, Level 2
• Expert center for the national TUTHYREF network (THYroid REFractory Tumors)

Partnerships, Collaborative Groups of Learned Societies

• At the national level: TUTHYREF, GTE, SFE, and GRT, as well as various working groups of the French Society of Nuclear Medicine (SFMN)
• Working Groups of the French Society of Medical Physics (SFPM), GANIL, CYCERON, CERMN, and IMOGERE
• Internationally: EANM , ETA, EORTC, EFOMP

Scientific publications