Putting Canada at the forefront of radiopharmaceutical therapy
Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) is an innovative approach to cancer treatment, delivering radioactive medicine through an injection or orally to target cancer cells while minimizing radiation’s impact on the rest of the body.
While RPT is a growing yet complex area of cancer treatment, ensuring patient safety, treatment effectiveness, and ongoing education and training is crucial. A common set of guidelines was needed to bring consistency to the preparation, handling and delivery of RPT safely and effectively across the country.
CAPCA provided a forum for this work to happen via the pan-Canadian Collaboration for Quality Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (pCQRT), which developed the pan-Canadian Quality Assurance Guidelines in Radiopharmaceutical Therapy. These guidelines aim to standardize and guide quality RPT delivery, support the creation and evaluation of RPT programs at healthcare institutions, and enhance system-wide performance.
As RPT continues to evolve, pCQRT’s work will evolve, too. In its next phase, pCQRT is looking at how the guidelines can be implemented at the point of care and reviewed and refined over time. This collaborative and forward-looking approach is designed to put Canada at the forefront of innovations in cancer treatment to improve patient care.
Who’s Involved
A diverse group of healthcare professionals are involved in radiopharmaceutical therapy, and the composition of pCQRT reflects this with representation from nuclear medicine physicians, radiation oncologists, radiopharmacists, and medical oncologists.
Latest Updates
Radiotherapy data standards: TG-263 and O3 Resources
In 2024, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) and the Canadian Cancer Society published a Pan-Canadian Cancer Data Strategy to help strengthen how cancer data are collected, shared, and used across Canada.
As part of this work,…
Guidance tree for handling events within the BCPSLS
Since 2020, British Columbia has been electronically transferring
radiation treatment safety event data to NSIR-RT following the
implementation of a formal data-sharing agreement between CIHI and
the BC Patient Safety and Learning System (BCPSLS).
To support accurate data entry, BC has developed several…
“Radiopharmaceutical therapy is experiencing rapid growth as innovative treatments become new standards of care, highlighting the need for clear guidelines to support safe and effective care — from treatment planning to optimal patient outcomes. Our goal is to support a pan-Canadian approach that sets the framework to reduce risks and improve patient care.”
Elaine Meertens, Vice President, Cancer Programs, Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario)
