Kemal Ünal, MD

Kemal Ünal, MD is a Nuclear Medicine specialist at Acibadem Atakent Hospital in İstanbul, where he works within the Nuclear Medicine Unit. His practice centers on nuclear medicine imaging, in particular FDG PET/CT, and on radionuclide-based evaluation and treatment. He has more than 23 years in medicine and is a member of the Turkish Medical Association and the Turkish Nuclear Medicine Association.

Dr. Ünal graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 2003 and completed his Nuclear Medicine specialty training at Gazi University Faculty of Medicine in 2008. He then worked at GATA Haydarpaşa Training Hospital Command from 2009 to 2010 and at Elazığ Training and Research Hospital from 2010 to 2012. From 2012 to 2016 he practiced at Medicalpark İzmir Hospital, followed by a position at Okan University Faculty of Medicine Hospital from 2016 to 2018. He joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2018.

Clinical focus

A large part of Dr. Ünal’s work involves FDG PET/CT imaging in oncology. This includes PET/CT imaging for lung cancer, imaging of gastrointestinal cancers, and the assessment of liver metastases. He also has experience in the evaluation of patients with an unknown primary tumor, where PET/CT is used to search for the site of origin, and in the interpretation of incidental colonic FDG uptake, a finding that can appear on scans performed for other reasons and may require further clarification. His areas of expertise also include radioembolization for liver metastases, a nuclear medicine treatment approach for tumors that have spread to the liver.

Beyond oncology, Dr. Ünal performs I-131 post-ablation scintigraphy, which is carried out after radioactive iodine ablation, and cardiac nuclear imaging, including myocardial viability imaging and nuclear medicine imaging in acute coronary syndromes. He has published on many of these topics, including review articles on radioembolization in liver metastases, FDG PET/CT and other nuclear medicine imaging methods in liver metastases, FDG PET/CT applications in the diagnosis of myocardial viability, and nuclear imaging methods in acute coronary syndromes. He has also co-authored studies on the addition of the brain region to the FDG PET/CT imaging area in suspected or diagnosed lung cancer, the approach to incidental foci of increased FDG uptake in the colon on PET/CT, and lower extremity FDG PET/CT imaging in patients with unknown primary tumor.

How Dr. Ünal works with international patients

Dr. Ünal consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. The Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments, and organizes the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination, and a discussion of the options. Video consultation is also available for international patients.