As an owner and co-founder of Captive Radiology, my partner, Dave Kelly, and I have committed almost 20 years of our lives to the highest quality and most compassionate diagnostic imaging services for our partners and their individual patients. From our own experiences, we realize how important accurate diagnosis and patient access to care is and how vital a compassionate and empathetic experience is to those whose care depends on it.
In 2017, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Almost every area of my prostate had cancer in it. After much testing and consultation, I elected to have a prostatectomy to remove the cancerous prostate and nearby lymph nodes. For four years, I maintained a non-detectable PSA level. This gave me hope that I was done with this. However, in May of 2021, my PSA began to show up in the detectable range once again.
Even before this rise in PSA, I have been actively involved in research and lobbying for greater access to the latest diagnostic abilities offered by PET/CT, Axumin, and newer PSMA’s being developed. My thought has always been that with these new means of diagnosing and pinpointing where cancer has recurred, we could target it rather than just radiating where we thought it could be.
Due to my cancer and my platform in radiology, I have spoken with many men whose cancer has recurred. Some are in advanced stages, and some are just beginning the journey like me. However, all are agreed in the belief that if they and their physicians could know where cancer had recurred and how advanced it was, their care decisions may have changed.
One in ten men will have prostate cancer, with around thirty thousand deaths each year. However, earlier and more accurate diagnosis and treatment plans designed around these advanced diagnostic methods will save many lives from needless death.
I am now one of these men who can choose the procedures that have been done for over 50 years, chemical castration and random radiation, or choose to pinpoint where the recurring cancer is so that a targeted and individualized approach can be used.
My sole focus as the owner of Captive Radiology is to educate myself by getting to know some of the leading minds in research, medicine, and manufacturing. We, as a company, can help physicians understand the latest capabilities offered by PET/CT in combination with Axumin and recently approved PSMA’s like PYLARIFY. I hope that many of you will join us on this journey. CMS will encourage the acceleration of the use of PET/CT and MRI with developing radiopharmaceuticals by rapidly approving new tracers and reimbursing completely and quickly.
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