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New strategy for monitoring targeted therapy: molecular imaging
Fei-Fei Teng1, Xue Meng, Xin-Dong Sun
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Targeted therapy is becoming an increasingly important component in the treatment of cancer. How to accurately monitor targeted therapy has been crucial in clinical practice. The traditional approach to monitor treatment through imaging has relied on assessing the change of tumor size by refined World Health Organization criteria, or more recently, by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. However, these criteria, which are based on the change of tumor size, show some limitations for evaluating targeted therapy. Currently, genetic alterations are identified with prognostic as well as predictive potential concerning the use of molecularly targeted drugs. Conversely, considering the limitations of invasiveness and the issue of expression heterogeneity, molecular imaging is better able to assay in vivo biologic processes noninvasively and quantitatively, and has been a particularly attractive tool for monitoring treatment in clinical cancer practice. This review focuses on the applications of different kinds of molecular imaging including positron emission tomography-, magnetic resonance imaging-, ultrasonography-, and computed tomography-based imaging strategies on monitoring targeted therapy. In addition, the key challenges of molecular imaging are addressed to successfully translate these promising techniques in the future.
Insights
Molecular imaging offers a noninvasive way to monitor cancer targeted therapy. This approach overcomes limitations of traditional tumor size assessments, improving treatment evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Medical Imaging
- Translational Medicine
Background:
- Targeted therapy is a key cancer treatment modality.
- Accurate monitoring of targeted therapy is clinically essential.
- Traditional imaging criteria (WHO, RECIST) based on tumor size have limitations for evaluating targeted therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the applications of molecular imaging in monitoring cancer targeted therapy.
- To highlight the advantages of molecular imaging over traditional methods.
- To discuss challenges in translating molecular imaging techniques.
Main Methods:
- Review of molecular imaging strategies including PET, MRI, ultrasonography, and CT.
- Focus on noninvasive and quantitative assessment of in vivo biologic processes.
- Discussion of genetic alterations and expression heterogeneity.
Main Results:
- Molecular imaging provides a noninvasive and quantitative method for monitoring targeted therapy.
- It overcomes limitations associated with tumor size-based assessments.
- Various molecular imaging techniques show promise for clinical application.
Conclusions:
- Molecular imaging is a valuable tool for monitoring cancer targeted therapy.
- It offers advantages over traditional size-based imaging criteria.
- Addressing key challenges is crucial for the clinical translation of molecular imaging.
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