ICRT-2009

World Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Council (WRPTC) is an International Scientific Organization with stake holders from all fields of nuclear medicine and several allied clinical specialties, e.g., nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, internists, endocrinologists, radiation oncologists, radio- chemists, physicists, medical oncologists, rheumatologists, etc who share research commitments to, and clinical practice in, therapeutic nuclear medicine. The major objective of the WRPTC includes setting standards for provision of radiopharmaceutical therapy, particularly in the development of uniform protocols for clinical practice of therapeutic nuclear medicine worldwide.

Radionuclides are being used extensively to provide palliative and curative treatment in a number of malignant and benign diseases. The potential of radionuclides for treating malignant tumours has been recognized and put to use for the past several decades. It has been possible to exploit the physiology unique to an organ or a disease process to deliver the radionuclides selectively to the sites of abnormality. Radioiodine treatment of thyroid diseases (Thyroid cancer, Hyperthyroidism etc.), I-131 MIBG therapy of neuro-endocrine tumours, radioimmunotherapy of B-cell lymphoma, palliative treatment of metastatic bone pain using bone seeking radiopharmaceuticals and radiosynovectomy have all been established in therapeutic nuclear medicine. The use of Rhenium 188 labeled compounds has shown great potential in the treatment of a number of benign and malignant disorders, including liver cancer (Re-188 Lipiodol), especially in developing countries. Several potentially useful Lu-177 labeled are now undergoing clinical trials and will most probably be available in near future for clinical use in cancer therapy.

To-day radiopharmaceutical therapy is the fastest growing branch of nuclear medicine. However, its practice in developing countries is only beginning to gain ground after years of trailing behind its use in the developed world. The establishment and consolidation of radiopharmaceutical therapy has come about as a result of a gradual change in the realization of its importance, cost-effectiveness and practicality. Availability of new generator produced, beta emitting radiopharmaceuticals like Re-188 for use in hospital radiopharmacy facilities has also enhanced the scope and practice of radionuclide therapy in developing countries.

 The current activities of WRPTC include organization of
(1) biennial International Conferences on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (ICRT),
(2) biennial International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (ISRT),
(3) Nuclear Medicine Updates and
(4) Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Colloquium

The Council had conducted several colloquia, two highly successful conferences and one symposium in the past. The ICRTs and ISRTs are biennial congresses held every alternate year. We are extremely proud to have held two highly successful and memorable conferences on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy, the first in Cyprus in October 2005 (ICRT-2005) and the second in Mongolia in September 2007 (ICRT-2007).

With regard to International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (ISRT), the first International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (ISRT-2008) was held recently in Goa, India in October 2008.

We are now announcing the next International Conference on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (ICRT-2008), which is scheduled to be held in Cartagena, Colombia from 3-7 November 2009.

This conference is being organized in conjunction with the 22nd Congress of the Latin-American Association of Societies of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (ALASBIMN).

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this Conference are to evaluate the current status of radiopharmaceutical therapy in the world in general and in the developing countries in particular, to exchange information on the current advances in the field between scientists from developed and developing countries; to interact with user groups (clinicians, oncologists, surgeons, radiopharmacists, chemists, scientists, medical physicists, etc.) and to bring them the most important information in the field, and to define future directions. The major emphasis of the conference will be to involve the end-users and stake holders of radionuclide therapy, e.g., oncologists, endocrinologists, radiation oncologists, rheumatologists, hematologists, physicians and surgeons. The objectives are to enhance awareness and sell the technology to our clinical colleagues.

THE SCOPE AND TOPICS TO BE COVERED
The Conference will cover topics and issues on all aspects of radiopharmaceutical therapy through a number of plenary lectures, papers, panel discussions and interactive audiovisual sessions. The topics to be addressed at the symposium include the following:

  • Reviews in therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals
  • Development of new radiopharmaceuticals
  • Clinical overviews of the current trends in radionuclide therapy
  • Radionuclide therapy:
    — Treatment of primary cancer,
    — Treatment of metastatic disease,
    — Pain palliation.
    — Treatment of benign diseases (Rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism etc.)
  • Prognostication in cancer therapy
  • Dosimetry
  • Monitoring
  • Molecular methods in radiopharmaceutical therapy
  • Treatment planning
  • Use of new instruments (PET/CT, dedicated cameras, hand held cameras, etc.) in radiopharmaceutical
  • Therapy planning
  • Drug resistance
  • Radioimmuno-detection and therapy
  • Infrastructure development
  • Training
  • Education

EXPECTED RESULTS
Through organization of this conference we expect to accomplish the following

  1. To carry out an evaluation of the current status of radiopharmaceutical therapy globally
  2. To help in the transfer of important information on the current trends in radiopharmaceutical therapy from developed to developing countries
  3. To involve our other non-nuclear medicine clinical colleagues and other end-users of our technology in a much more productive and positive manner in decision making and implementing the radionuclide therapeutic procedures
  4. To publish a technical document based on the proceedings of the Symposium
  5. To promote radiopharmaceutical therapy globally in general, and in developing countries in particular
  6. To formulate a strategy for promoting radiopharmaceutical therapy around the world.

WORKING LANGUAGE
The working language of the meeting will be English. All communications, synopses, abstracts and papers must be sent in English.

VISAS
Participants who require a visa to enter Colombia should submit the necessary application to the nearest diplomatic or consular representative of Colombia as soon as possible. A formal letter of invitation may be provided (on request) by the local host in Colombia in case a participant needs it for visa purpose.

SECRETARIAT
 The address of the conference secretariat is:

Prof. A.K. Padhy MD, FAMS
Chairman, World Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Council
Department of Nuclear Medicine & PET
Singapore General Hospital
Block-2, Basement-1, Outram Road, Singapore-169608
Tel: +65-63214201; Fax: +65-62240938; Mob: +65-81287726
E-mail: ajitpadhy1@yahoo.co.uk

The Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee in Colombia:
Dr. Patricia Bernal Trujillo MD
Consultant
Department of Nuclear Medicine & PET
Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota
Bogota, Colombia.
Telephone: +57- 1- 6030303 -ext 5489; Mobile: +57- 3134224267.; Fax: +57- 1- 2104214
E-mail: patriciabernalt@yahoo.com

CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
All professionals who intend to participate in the conference should register on-line. All subsequent correspondence on scientific and administrative matters should be sent to the Conference Secretariat.

PAPERS AND POSTERS
All papers, apart from invited review papers, must present original work; they should not have been published elsewhere.

SUBMISSION OF EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
Persons who wish to present a paper or poster at the conference must submit an extended synopsis (in English) on line latest by Monday, 8 June 2009. The synopsis should contain a maximum of 800 words and include four clearly identifiable elements of content: Rationale, methods, results and conclusion. The synopsis will be considered by the Scientific Committee and if accepted - will be reproduced in unedited form in a supplementary issue of the World Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

PAPER/POSTER ACCEPTANCE
In order to provide ample time for discussion, the number of papers that can be accepted for oral presentation is limited. If the number of relevant and high quality papers submitted for selection exceeds the acceptable number, some of them will be selected for presentation as posters. Authors will be informed whether their papers/posters have been accepted for presentation on the basis of the extended synopsis. The WRPTC, however, reserves the right to refuse the presentation or publication of any paper that does not meet the expectations based on the information given in the extended synopsis. Further details concerning the poster and oral presentation at the meeting will be sent to all authors in due course.

PARTICIPATION

Academic Participation
All professionals who intend to participate in the Symposium should register on-line on or before 6 July 2009. Please note that only on-line registration is available. Registration is free for medical and technical professionals as well as scientists and research scholars working in the field of nuclear medicine and allied specialties in hospitals, clinics, universities and other non-commercial organizations which are engaged in the practice of nuclear medicine. Please note that free registration only applies to those participants who opt for conference lump sum (please refer to the "EXPENDITURES" section below).

A non-resident registration fee will be charged to all those participants who would like to attend the conference without opting for lump sum payment. Details will be available on request from the local organisers.

Please note that this conference is being held in conjunction with the 22nd meeting of the ALASBIMN (5-7 November 2009). As a gesture of good-will the organizers of ALASBIMN have promised to provide free registration to all ICRT participants (from both ALASBIMN Member countries as well as Non-ALASBIMN Member countries) to attend the ALASBIMN scientific sessions. In this way all participants of ICRT can enjoy the benefits from both ICRT-2009 as well as from the ALASBIMN Congress. Similarly, all registered participants of ALASBIMN will also have free registration for ICRT-2009.

The above statements mean the following:

  1. ICRT registration is free for all those participants who opt for ICRT lump sum.
  2. Once you are registered for ICRT, you will be automatically registered for ALASBIMN congress also. This means you do not need to pay the ALASBIMN registration fee.
  3. In this way, a participant would save about $380.

Participants from Industry:
It may be noted that the organizers of both ICRT-2008 and ALASBIMN have decided to have a common Commercial Exhibition, starting from 4th to 7th November 2009. A certain number of free registrations are provided to the representatives from Industry and commercial organizations depending on their level of sponsorship (Please see “Sponsorship” section for more details). The sponsors may bring in additional participants over and above their entitlement only after paying the additional registration fee of the extra participants. The registration fee for each additional participant from Industry and commercial organizations is US$ 500.00. This registration fee entitles the industry participant entry to both ICRT-2009 and ALASBIMN venues (Scientific and Commercial).

Stand-alone participants from Industry without sponsorship:
Professionals from commercial organizations which do not intend to sponsor the event(s), but would like their employees or professionals attend the conference(s), are most welcome to do so. The registration fee for such participants for the entire duration from 3-7 November 2009 is US$ 500.00 per person. This registration fee entitles the industry participants entry to both ICRT-2009 and ALASBIMN venues (Scientific and Commercial). But it does not allow them to indulge in any overt commercial activities.

EXPENDITURES
The conference will be held in Cartagena, Colombia, which offers some of the magnificent monuments, landscapes and tourist attractions in the world. Dr. Patricia Bernal has been designated as the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee. We are inviting several International organizations to collaborate with us in this Endeavour. We are also expecting that the nuclear medicine industry would participate in large numbers in the organization of the congress. Please note that as a general rule the WRPTC does not pay the cost of attendance, i.e. travel and living expenses, of participants. In order to make it easy and possible for the professionals from all over the world including from the developing and least developed countries, the WRPTC in collaboration with the local organizers, has developed a comprehensive package which would include the following:

Accommodation in Hotel Hilton, Cartagena a first class hotel in Cartagena for five nights and 6 days, all breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 Dinners, 2 Parties, one full day Excursion w/Lunch and airport transportation. The cost of this entire package would be US$ 1500.00 in Single Accommodation and US$ 1840.00 in double accommodation. For two persons sharing a room the cost of the entire package would be US$ 920.00 per person. Please note that this is the best deal we could get after a lot of negotiations with various hotels and agencies. Please also note that there is no registration fee, registration is free for ICRT-2009 for those who opt for the conference lump sum. The registration for ALASBIMN Congress is also free for all ICRT participants. (Conditions apply: contact local organising committe for non-resident registration fee for all those participants who do not wish to opt for lump sum payment.)

Cartagena is one of the most spectacular tourist spots in Latin America and November is the most important tourist month in Cartagena. The tourist inflow to Cartagena is supposed to be at its peak during this time of the year. We would therefore request you to register and confirm your participation by paying your lump-sum at the earliest. Please do not wait until the deadline, since the rooms are limited and we reserve the rooms on a first come first served basis.

We are planning to organize the conference in a very friendly and cordial atmosphere, offering positive interaction between professionals from all fields of nuclear medicine. We will strive hard to accommodate all participants in the best hotels in Cartagena (Hilton). All academic, social and excursion activities will be organized in such a way that everyone would get a chance to participate in them. All in all every effort will be made to make it a memorable conference.

ACCOMMODATION
Detailed information on accommodation and other items will be sent to all confirmed participants well in advance of the meeting directly from Colombia.