A radiologist's guide to treatment response criteria in oncologic imaging: functional, molecular, and...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Targeted cancer therapies have advanced significantly.
• Novel agents often exhibit cytostatic rather than cytotoxic effects.
• Evaluating the efficacy of these new drugs presents a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review imaging biomarkers for assessing treatment response.
• To focus on functional, molecular, and disease-specific imaging modalities.
• To highlight their role in evaluating novel targeted therapies.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of functional imaging techniques.
• Analysis of molecular imaging approaches.
• Examination of disease-specific imaging biomarkers.

Main Results:

• Functional imaging offers insights into cellular activity and metabolism.
• Molecular imaging visualizes drug targets and pathway engagement.
• Disease-specific biomarkers provide direct measures of tumor response.

Conclusions:

• Functional, molecular, and disease-specific imaging biomarkers are crucial.
• These biomarkers optimally evaluate cytostatic, targeted cancer drugs.
• Progress in drug development necessitates advanced imaging evaluation methods.