The article highlights the success of PRISMAP, a European programme coordinated by CERN, in advancing cancer diagnosis and treatment through improved access to novel radionuclides. Over five years, PRISMAP connected eight radionuclide production facilities and five biomedical research centres across Europe to support research into theranostic approaches—combining imaging and therapy for personalised cancer care.
Key achievements include:
- Support for 47 medical research projects in 19 countries
- Delivery of 159 batches of 23 different radionuclides to biomedical labs
- Strong focus on alpha-emitting radionuclides, which are highly precise and effective at destroying cancer cells and micro-metastases while sparing healthy tissue
- Unique contributions from CERN-MEDICIS, the only facility worldwide dedicated to producing radionuclides by mass separation for biomedical research, ensuring very high purity
A notable example is the development of a lead-203/lead-212 theranostic pair for prostate cancer, combining production from a French reactor (ARRONAX) and CERN-MEDICIS, with promising early clinical research results.
The project concluded in December 2025, and due to its success, a follow-up initiative PRISMAP+ has been proposed to extend and strengthen the network.