Micelles are colloidal particles with a size around 5–100 nm which are currently under investigation as carriers for hydrophobic drugs in anticancer therapy. Currently, five micellar formulations for anticancer therapy are under clinical evaluation, of which Genexol-PM has been FDA approved for use in patients with breast cancer. Micelle-based drug delivery, however, can be improved in different ways. Targeting ligands can be attached to the micelles which specifically recognize and bind to receptors overexpressed in tumor cells, and chelation or incorporation of imaging moieties enables tracking micelles in vivo for biodistribution studies. Moreover, pH-, thermo-, ultrasound-, or light-sensitive block copolymers allow for controlled micelle dissociation and triggered drug release. The combination of these approaches will further improve specificity and efficacy of micelle-based drug delivery and brings the development of a ‘magic bullet’ a major step forward.

In hepatic 90 Y radioembolization, pretreatment 99m Tc-macroaggregated albumin ( 99m Tc-MAA) nuclear imaging is used for lung shunt analysis, evaluation of extrahepatic deposition, and sometimes for treatment planning, using a partition model. A high level of agreement between pretreatment 99m Tc-MAA distribution and final 90 Ymicrosphere distribution is assumed. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of pretreatment 99m Tc-MAA SPECT to predict intrahepatic posttreatment 90 Y-microsphere distribution.

No abstract

In clinical practice, lung absorbed doses are significantly overestimated by pretreatment diagnostic (99m)Tc-MAA imaging. Pretreatment diagnostic (166)Ho-microsphere SPECT/CT imaging accurately predicts lung absorbed doses after (166)Ho radioembolization.