Senate's reports applauded by SNMMI for incorporating nuclear medicine lingo

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Labor, Health, and Human Services (L-HHS) have released their reports for the 2026 fiscal year, which include a significant development for cancer research. The reports encourage research on theranostics, innovative techniques aimed at early, accurate, and effective cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Notably, the DoD report includes neuroendocrine tumors as an allowable research area in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s (CDMRP) Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program. This inclusion could potentially expand the scope of cancer research, as neuroendocrine tumors are often challenging to diagnose and treat due to their complex nature.

The CDMRP's Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program funds innovative cancer research projects, and the DoD report's encouragement for research on neuroendocrine tumors within this programme is significant. The reports also reflect language from the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), which has been advocating for research on theranostics for early, precise, and effective cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The L-HHS report, similar to the DoD report, includes language from SNMMI encouraging the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support research for theranostics. The SNMMI has praised the Senate Appropriations Committee for including nuclear medicine research language in its reports.

However, the SNMMI has not yet commented on the specific language regarding neuroendocrine tumors in the DoD report. The House of Representatives has not yet voted on the L-HHS and DoD bills, and the reports are expected to be released until early September.

The initiative supporting research on theranostics for early, precise, and effective cancer diagnosis and treatment was organized by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The inclusion of neuroendocrine tumors in the DoD report could potentially expand the scope of cancer research and bring us one step closer to finding effective treatments for these complex tumors.