title: Radionuclides in oncology.
abstract: Radionuclides already have a major role in the daily practice of oncology and will, undoubtedly, be of even greater importance in the future. The variety of current and potential applications is shown in tab. 1. Their major use at this time is, in the broadest sense, for 'tumour scanning', which includes the evaluation of specific organs for the presence of tumour (usually with different radiopharmaceuticals for each organ) and the entire body (generalized tumour searches with radiopharmaceuticals like 67Ga-citrate or 111In-labeled bleomycin). The clinician uses these agents in the initial evaluation of extent of tumour (staging) and in the subsequent management of the patient with cancer to assess response to treatment, to reveal early relapse, and to assist in making decisions concerning treatment. The other potential roles for radionuclides are also briefly considered in this review.
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001761:Bleomycin; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002283:Carcinoma, Bronchogenic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D007204:Indium; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011868:Radioisotopes; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging
chemical_list: D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D011868:Radioisotopes; D007204:Indium; D001761:Bleomycin