– This is the radioactive stuff, so now it’s done, now you’ve become radioactive, says the radiographer to Frank Hansen as he takes the needle out of his arm. At the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN), Hansen has just had a drug consisting of radioactive dextrose injected into his arm. It is necessary before he goes into a PET scanner to look for cancer cells in the body. Until 25 August this year, the hospital had to have the medicine sent from Helsinki or Oslo, but now they have started their own production. – We can produce what we need when we need it. The drug is fresh, which means that the radioactivity burns out after a while, doctor and head of the PET center at UNN, Rune Sundset. Production has been planned for several years, and now the hospital can diagnose patients as needed, not after deliveries of the medicine. Shortage during the pilot strike Before they started their own production, the medicine was sent by plane from Helsinki or Oslo. UNN then received enough for eight patients at a time. Runde Sundset is a doctor and head of the PET center at UNN. Photo: Rune Stoltz / UNN – If there was a production error, we had to wait until the next day before we received the delivery. It has consequences for a patient who has come from a long way to be diagnosed, says Sundset. The long journey also became a problem during the pilot strike this summer, when it was a SAS-owned company that transported the medicine. Now that they produce the drug themselves, they save money and become more flexible. Own factory In order to be able to produce the medicine, UNN has set up its own small medicine factory in the basement of the hospital. The same demands are placed on production at UNN as it is at larger pharmaceutical factories. Inger Marie Hansen is production manager for the new drug production at UNN. Photo: Rune Stoltz / UNN – It must be the same quality and the same patient safety even if we only have three productions a week, and therefore it is considered a factory, says production manager Inger Marie Hansen. In the factory, they connect a carrier molecule, which at UNN is dextrose, and a radioactive isotope. – We fill it in a glass and take it to the patient, explains Hansen. Clear picture of cancer cells Frank Hansen is told to lie completely still during the 20 minutes the PET scanner takes to take pictures of his body. Sundset shows an example of what a PET scan image can look like. The picture is of a person with cancer cells in the throat. – The brain and bladder light up because the dextrose naturally accumulates there. We also see that it glows in the throat, it is not natural and shows that there is a collection of cancer cells, he explains. After receiving the radioactive medicine in the body, the PET scanner can detect whether there are cancer cells in Frank Hansen’s body. Photo: Pål Hansen / news In addition to large collections of cancer cells, the image will show smaller collections and the doctors will be able to see if there is spread of cancer. The method can also be used to treat certain types of cancer, – Giving an answer Frank Hansen is grateful that he has been given the opportunity to take a PET scan at UNN in Tromsø. – The pet scanner is helping to give me an answer. You also get to know what kind of treatment you should possibly receive if there are any cancer cells there, says Hansen. The fact that he has had a radioactive substance injected into his body does not worry him. – It’s like taking an X-ray at the dentist. There is very little radiation, says Hansen.
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During the pilot strike, they did not get the medicine north – Now UNN has started its own production – news Troms and Finnmark
