title: Integration of imaging into clinical practice to assess the delivery and performance of macromolecular and nanotechnology-based oncology therapies.
abstract: Functional and molecular imaging has become increasingly used to evaluate interpatient and intrapatient tumor heterogeneity. Imaging allows for assessment of microenvironment parameters including tumor hypoxia, perfusion and proliferation, as well as tumor metabolism and the intratumoral distribution of specific molecular markers. Imaging information may be used to stratify patients for targeted therapies, and to define patient populations that may benefit from alternative therapeutic approaches. It also provides a method for non-invasive monitoring of treatment response at earlier time-points than traditional cues, such as tumor shrinkage. Further, companion diagnostic imaging techniques are becoming progressively more important for development and clinical implementation of targeted therapies. Imaging-based companion diagnostics are likely to be essential for the validation and FDA approval of targeted nanotherapies and macromolecular medicines. This review describes recent clinical advances in the use of functional and molecular imaging to evaluate the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, this article focuses on image-based assessment of distribution and anti-tumor effect of nano- and macromolecular systems.
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Souza
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada.
authors.forename: Yannan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 185 Cambridge St, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stapleton
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada; Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3E2, Canada.
authors.forename: Raymond M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada. Electronic address: cj.allen@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011849:Radioactive Tracers
keywords: Companion diagnostic imaging; Functional imaging; Molecular imaging; Nanomedicine; Patient stratification; Response assessment; Tumor microenvironment