Molecular Imaging in Cancer

Abstract

Medical imaging technologies have undergone explosive growth over the past few decades and now play a central role in clinical oncology. But the truly transformative power of imaging in the clinical management of cancer patients lies ahead. Today, imaging is at a crossroads, with molecularly targeted imaging agents expected to broadly expand the capabilities of conventional anatomical imaging methods. Molecular imaging will allow clinicians to not only see where a tumor is located in the body, but also to visualize the expression and activity of specific molecules (e.g., proteases and protein kinases) and biological processes (e.g., apoptosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis) that influence tumor behavior and/or response to therapy. This information is expected to have a major impact on cancer detection, individualized treatment, and drug development, as well as our understanding of how cancer arises.

Enhanced Photodynamic Cancer Treatment by Mitochondria‐Targeting and Brominated Near‐Infrared Fluorophores

“…In addition, we used the contrast ratio (tumor to muscle) to confirm the clearance of MitDt‐1. If the ratio exceeds 2.5, it means that relatively more MitDt‐1 remains in the tumor (Figure 5D) 15, 27. As a result, it was found that the concentration ratio (tumor to adjacent muscle) was 3.94 ± 0.44; and thus it was confirmed that the MitDt‐1 was localized within tumor sites due to TPP.…”

A systematic approach to the development of fluorescent contrast agents for optical imaging of mouse cancer models

“…Combined with new NIR-labeled biomarkers, these will expand the clinical options available for cancer management in the near future. Several excellent reviews describe the use of targeted markers in animal studies [7] and [67].…”

Tenascin-C: Exploitation and collateral damage in cancer management

“…Until today detection of a tumor by MRI, PET or ultrasound imaging is limited by its minimal size of 1 cm in diameter. 50 Molecular imaging is becoming increasingly important in cancer diagnosis by using cancer specific target based imaging probes. Using probes coupled to fluorescent dyes or radioisotopes in vivo had been applied in preclinical models.…”