Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the first National Conference on Nuclear Medicine, Radio-Oncology, Hematology and Oncology at Shahid Tajrish Hospital in Tehran on Thursday, Eslami said the meeting brought together four to five medical specialties centered on nuclear medicine at a time when cancer has become increasingly aggressive.
He said the AEOI’s role in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, including radiopharmaceuticals and cold plasma, could help reduce patients’ suffering and improve treatment effectiveness through closer cooperation among medical disciplines involved in cancer care.
“With the aggressive nature of cancer and the scientific and research advances achieved globally, we thank God that our products, especially recent ones, are at the top tier,” Eslami said.
He added that only one or two leading countries currently offer comparable products, describing it as an achievement that Iranian patients are able to benefit from them domestically.
Meanwhile, Eslami said the conference would strengthen synergy among medical and research institutions and that similar gatherings would continue in the future.
He said treatment outcomes, particularly in various types of cancer, are being systematically analyzed in cooperation with medical universities, including Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, to identify the most effective drugs and treatment methods.
“This approach allows us to move faster and achieve more meaningful and result-oriented progress, based on the specific structure and conditions of cancer in our country,” he said.
Eslami said Iran currently produces and supplies 72 radiopharmaceuticals on a continuous basis, while another 20 are at different stages of research and development.
He said at least two domestically produced radiopharmaceuticals have shown effectiveness in treating up to 30 types of cancer and are already available to patients across the country.
Separately, he said the Health Ministry has expanded hospital capacities nationwide, noting that Shohada-ye Tajrish Hospital is among the centers equipped to use advanced nuclear medicine technologies.
Eslami said Iran had only seven PET scan machines in 2021, forcing patients to wait in long queues, but that number has now exceeded 25 and is expected to reach 50 centers in the near future.
He added that under a comprehensive national cancer control plan, the AEOI has reached an agreement with the Health Ministry to establish five cyclotron centers across the country as regional hubs.
Two of these centers have been designated as immediate priorities at the request of the health minister and will be implemented sooner, he said, while work on all five projects continues.
“This will ensure easier access for people across Iran to the health services provided by the Atomic Energy Organization, and it will also represent a distinct transformation in the pharmaceutical sector,” Eslami said.
Meanwhile, Eslami said treatments based on these technologies can cost at least $12,000 to $13,000 abroad, while they are offered domestically at far lower and non-comparable prices, with broad public access.
He said such capabilities would not be possible without Iran’s nuclear industrial capacity, stressing that uranium fission, enrichment, reactor fuel production and isotope separation are essential steps in producing radiopharmaceuticals.
“The mother and baseline of radiopharmaceutical production is this industry, and enrichment is truly its starting point and origin,” he said.
Eslami said two newly introduced radiopharmaceuticals targeting an especially deadly form of skin cancer have shown very positive results in research and early clinical phases.
He said development and cooperation efforts will continue through the end of the year, with new products unveiled as they successfully complete required clinical trials.
“Clinical phases must run their course, and we cannot introduce a drug without completing them,” he said.
According to the state news agency IRNA, the joint meeting of Iran’s nuclear medicine, radio-oncology, hematology and oncology associations was held on Thursday morning at the Ghadir Building of Shohada-ye Tajrish Hospital, with Eslami and specialists in attendance.
During the event, the vice president also visited the hospital’s PET scan department.