Multimodality Imaging for Pre-Therapeutic Molecular Radiotherapy Dosimetry

The treatment of cancer with radiopharmaceuticals is expanding rapidly, in terms of both the numbers of patients treated and the range of treatments offered (Carlsson et al. 2003). An increasing number of radiopharmaceuticals are now being introduced to the clinic and there is a strong potential for this modality to play a larger role in cancer management alongside surgery, external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and chemotherapy. The ongoing development of new tumour targeting agents is complemented by recent advances in imaging technology and methodology, which facilitate quantitative assessment of image data and absorbed dose determination. This can provide the basis for a radical change in the manner in which molecular radiotherapy (MRT) is performed.