Assessing responses to cancer therapy using molecular imaging.
Tumor responses to therapy in the clinic are still evaluated primarily from non-invasive imaging measurements of reductions in tumor size. This approach, however, lacks sensitivity and can only give a delayed indication of a positive response to treatment. Major advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for cancer, combined with new targeted clinical imaging technologies designed to detect the molecular correlates of disease progression and response to treatment, are set to revolutionize our approach to the detection and treatment of the disease. We describe here the imaging technologies available to image tumor cell proliferation and migration, metabolism, receptor and gene expression, apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis and vascular function, and show how measurements of these parameters can be used to give early indications of positive responses to treatment or to detect drug resistance and/or disease recurrence. Special emphasis has been placed on those applications that are already used in the clinic and those that are likely to translate into clinical application in the near future or whose use in preclinical studies is likely to facilitate translation of new treatments into the clinic.
Neves
André A
AA
Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK.
Brindle
Kevin M
KM
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000188:drug therapy
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor