MO-C-BRCD-01: Towards Personalized Medicine: Integration of Imaging into Therapy

A significant advance in cancer therapy is currently underway with the evolution from a population-based to a personalized patient-based prescription. Rapid developments in imaging, particularly adoption of molecular imaging, offer unprecedented opportunities for accurate characterization of tumor biology, as well as early assessment of treatment response. Accurate characterization of tumor biology enables effective selection of appropriate therapy or even a design of purposefully non-uniform tumor-specific treatment plans, tailored to the spatial distribution of biological properties of each patient's tumor. Early assessment of treatment response enables treatment adaptation, potentially intensifying or reducing the treatment dose to provide more efficacious and less toxic therapies. However, integration of imaging into therapeutic applications requires a high level of image quantification, well beyond what is currently required in diagnostic imaging applications. This lecture will provide an overview of imaging applications in therapy, ranging from target selection totreatment response assessment. Potential roadblocks, as well as research opportunities on the path to personalization of cancer therapy, will be highlighted.

1. Understand the role of imaging in target definition and treatment response assessment 2. Understand the requirements for establishing imaging as a biomarker 3. Learn about research opportunities on the interface between imaging and therapy.