Aga Khan University Hospital introduces advanced imaging services to support personalised cancer care

Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi has introduced three advanced imaging services to help clinicians detect and better understand selected cancers and liver lesions, assess the extent of disease and guide treatment decisions.

The new services—Gallium-68 DOTATATE PET/CT, Gallium-68 FAPI PET/CT and PRIMOVIST MRI—expand the hospital’s capacity to provide precise, patient-centred imaging, supporting more informed decisions about diagnosis and management.

Gallium-68 DOTATATE PET/CT: Supporting neuroendocrine tumour care

Gallium-68 DOTATATE PET/CT is a highly sensitive imaging technique for detecting tumours that express somatostatin receptors, particularly neuroendocrine tumours.

The scan can help identify where a tumour started and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. It also helps clinicians assess the extent of disease and plan treatment, including consideration of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), where clinically appropriate.

Gallium-68 FAPI PET/CT: Assessing selected cancers

Gallium-68 FAPI PET/CT targets fibroblast activation protein (FAP), which is expressed in the tissue environment of many solid tumours.

This emerging imaging technique can provide valuable information for detecting and characterising selected cancers, particularly those that tend not to readily take up FDG, the tracer used in FDG PET/CT imaging.

The hospital’s Nuclear Medicine team is available to discuss the indications for FAPI PET/CT and guide clinicians on its appropriate use.

PRIMOVIST MRI: Providing greater detail about liver lesions

PRIMOVIST MRI uses gadoxetate disodium, a hepatocyte-specific agent, to assess whether a liver lesion contains normal liver cells, known as hepatocytes.

Its primary role is to help clinicians characterise focal liver lesions identified on other imaging studies. This provides additional information to support multidisciplinary teams in resolving diagnostic questions and planning patient care.

The technique also supports surgical planning for patients with oligometastatic disease, where cancer has spread to a limited number of sites.

Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi is the first hospital in Kenya and the region to perform PRIMOVIST MRI.

Strengthening access to specialised imaging

The introduction of these services reflects the hospital’s commitment to advanced diagnostic imaging and personalised cancer care, while strengthening access to specialised molecular imaging in the region.

By providing more detailed information about disease, these services help clinical teams make informed decisions and plan care around each patient’s needs.