Molecular Image-Guided Theranostic and Personalized Medicine 2014

Molecular image-guided therapy has been demonstrated to be effective in improving diagnosis, prognosis, planning , and monitoring of personalized medication. Molecular imaging modalities include positron emission tomogra-phy (PET), single-photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), ultrasound (US), and optical imaging (Ramen, quantum dots, and bioluminescence). Among clinical molecular imaging modalities, radionuclide imaging technique is the most sensitive one which could provide target-specific information as well as function, pathway activities, and cell migration in the intact organism. For instance, the radiotracer could noninvasively assess diseases treatment endpoints which are used to rely almost exclusively on biopsies and histopathological assays. New leads on the development of personalized theranostic (image and treat) agents would allow for more accuracy in the selection of patients who may respond to treatment. Topics covered in this special issue include advances in molecular imaging modalities in oncological disease management , image-guided approach of brain function, stem cell technology, and receptor based imaging approach. For example, Q. Wang's group at Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University reported a retrospective study on 51 consecutive patients to investigate what causes the false negative of adenocarcinoma with BAC features on 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Their study demonstrated that different types of adenocarcinoma with BAC features exhibited different 18 F-FDG uptake patterns. False negative on 18 F-FDG PET/CT mainly occurs in those lesions presented as the nonsolid nodule on CT, but not the solid nodule. Y. Dong and her coauthors from Zhejiang University evaluated the efficacy of PET/CT in association with serum tumor maker assays in the follow-up of patients with breast cancer (BC). This study indicated that PET/CT was a highly efficient tool to follow-up patients with BC compared with CITs in terms of sensitivity and specificity, allowing for the detection of metastatic and/or recurrent cases. The high serum levels of CA 15-3 in confirmed positive PET/CT patients compared to negative ones indicated the clinical value of CA 15-3 in BC follow-up. H. Hou and his coauthors from the same institute reported a pilot study on the prognostic value of 99m Tc-pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy for predicting the outcomes of fixed dose (5 mCi) of radioiodine. A fixed dose of 5mCi radioiodine seems to be practical and effective for treating GD patients with thyroid mass ≤40.1 g and 99m Tc-pertechnetate uptake ≤15.2%. This study demonstrates that 99m Tc-pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy is an important prognostic factor for predicting the outcomes of …