title: Assessment of cancer-associated biomarkers by positron emission tomography: advances and challenges.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) provides a powerful means to non-invasively image and quantify protein expression and biochemical changes in living subjects at nano- and picomolar levels. As the field of molecular imaging develops, and as advances in the biochemistry, pharmacology, therapeutics, and molecular biology of disease are made, there is a corresponding increase in the number of clinically relevant, novel disease-associated biomarkers that are brought to the attention of those developing imaging probes for PET. In addition, due to the high specificity of the PET radiotracers being developed, there is a demand for PET cameras with higher sensitivity and resolution. This manuscript reviews advances over the past five years in clinical and pre-clinical PET instrumentation and in new PET probes and imaging methods associated with the latest trends in the molecular imaging of cancer. Included in the PET tracer review is a description of new radioligands for steroid receptors, growth factor receptors, receptor tyrosine kinases, sigma receptors, tumor-associated enzymes, gene reporter probes, markers for tumor hypoxia and metabolism, and sites associated with angiogenesis and cellular proliferation. The use of PET imaging in drug development, including the monitoring of cancer chemotherapy, also is discussed.
authors.affiliation: PETNET Pharmaceuticals, North Wales, PA, USA.
authors.forename: T Lee
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lecomte
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meikle
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scopinaro
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Signore
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: VanBrocklin
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van De Wiele
authors.forename: Rikki N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Waterhouse
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002455:Cell Division; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D012008:Recurrence; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor