New PET imaging agents in the management of solid cancers.
OBJECTIVE
(18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET-computed tomography (CT) has a major clinical impact in oncology not only for diagnostics but also for staging, response assessment, and relapse detection. However, several other PET tracers are needed for a more complete molecular characterization of cancers which has great importance in the era of individualized targeted therapies. PET-CT is an exquisite tool for molecular imaging because it allows detection of nanomolar quantities of tracer molecules targeting different hallmarks of cancer.


RESULTS
This article reviews the most recent findings (published in 2010-2011) on the use of molecular imaging for assessing tumour proliferation, apoptosis, growth receptor expression, bone metabolism, and hypoxia.


CONCLUSIONS
Molecular imaging using PET-CT constitutes a major opportunity in translational research bringing fundamental molecular insights to the clinical area. Such information results invaluable for patient selection and prediction of response to therapy and serves as a crucial diagnostic tool in the era of personalized medicine.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. camilo.garcia@bordet.be
Camilo
C
Garcia
Geraldine
G
Gebhart
Patrick
P
Flamen
D017209:Apoptosis; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002794:Choline / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006573:Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012969:Sodium Fluoride / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D006573:Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C558148:gallium 68-DOTA-lanreotide; D013004:Somatostatin; D012969:Sodium Fluoride; D002794:Choline; C002854:alovudine