scholarly journals Immuno-Imaging to Predict Treatment Response in Infection, Inflammation and Oncology

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Signore ◽  
Chiara Lauri ◽  
Sveva Auletta ◽  
Kelly Anzola ◽  
Filippo Galli ◽  
...  

Background: Molecular nuclear medicine plays a pivotal role for diagnosis in a preclinical phase, in genetically susceptible patients, for radio-guided surgery, for disease relapse evaluation, and for therapy decision-making and follow-up. This is possible thanks to the development of new radiopharmaceuticals to target specific biomarkers of infection, inflammation and tumour immunology. Methods: In this review, we describe the use of specific radiopharmaceuticals for infectious and inflammatory diseases with the aim of fast and accurate diagnosis and treatment follow-up. Furthermore, we focus on specific oncological indications with an emphasis on tumour immunology and visualizing the tumour environment. Results: Molecular nuclear medicine imaging techniques get a foothold in the diagnosis of a variety of infectious and inflammatory diseases, such as bacterial and fungal infections, rheumatoid arthritis, and large vessel vasculitis, but also for treatment response in cancer immunotherapy. Conclusion: Several specific radiopharmaceuticals can be used to improve diagnosis and staging, but also for therapy decision-making and follow-up in infectious, inflammatory and oncological diseases where immune cells are involved. The identification of these cell subpopulations by nuclear medicine techniques would provide personalized medicine for these patients, avoiding side effects and improving therapeutic approaches.

Author(s):  
Valeria Stati ◽  
Chiara Lauri ◽  
Michela Varani ◽  
Martina Conserva ◽  
Alberto Signore

Background: Molecular nuclear medicine, due to hybrid imaging camera systems and new tailored radiopharmaceuticals, has been gained a clinical relevance for diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of solid tumors. Despite numerous literature studies, many new radiopharmaceuticals for imaging tumor microenvironment, have not yet been used, routinely, in oncological clinical practice to monitor treatments. This is due to poor comparability of published studies, due to poor design and methodology, heterogeneous population and prevalence of preclinical studies. Methods: In this systematic review, we described the use of radiopharmaceuticals for evaluation of tumor treatment response by targeting microenvironment. We reviewed studies published from 2000 to 2020, to provide an updated status of research in this topic. Results: There is a growing role of radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear medicine imaging techniques in the management of cancer treatments, especially immunotherapy. Of the 24 papers included, 16 were preclinical studies. Conclusions: New radiopharmaceuticals could have an excellent impact in molecular imaging, leading to better diagnosis and important clinical information for therapy decision making and follow-up of cancer treatments in different solid tumors. Recently developed radiopharmaceuticals may provide great advantage to improve personalized medicine for patients with a great cost-effectiveness ratio.


Author(s):  
Marco Chianelli ◽  
Gaurav Malviya ◽  
Andor W.J.M. Glaudemans ◽  
Alberto Signore

2013 ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
Giorgio Treglia ◽  
Ernesto Cason ◽  
Giorgio Fagioli

Introduction: Positron-emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are effective diagnostic imaging tools in several clinical settings. The aim of this article (the second of a 2-part series) is to examine some of the more recent applications of nuclear medicine imaging techniques, particularly in the fields of neurology, cardiology, and infection/inflammation. Discussion: A review of the literature reveals that in the field of neurology nuclear medicine techniques are most widely used to investigate cognitive deficits and dementia (particularly those associated with Alzheimer disease), epilepsy, and movement disorders. In cardiology, SPECT and PET also play important roles in the work-up of patients with coronary artery disease, providing accurate information on the state of the myocardium (perfusion, metabolism, and innervation). White blood cell scintigraphy and FDG-PET are widely used to investigate many infectious/inflammatory processes. In each of these areas, the review discusses the use of recently developed radiopharmaceuticals, the growth of tomographic nuclear medicine techniques, and the ways in which these advances are improving molecular imaging of biologic processes at the cellular level.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Yogita Pawar ◽  
Uma Bhartiya ◽  
Sutapa Rakshit ◽  
Saikat Nandy ◽  
N. Lakshminarayanan ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muammad Saeed Akhtar ◽  
Muhammad Babar Imran ◽  
Muhammad Afzal Nadeem ◽  
Abubaker Shahid

Nuclear medicine imaging techniques offer whole body imaging for localization of number and site of infective foci inspite of limitation of spatial resolution. The innate human immune system contains a large member of important elements including antimicrobial peptides to combat any form of infection. However, development of antibiotics against bacteria progressed rapidly and gained popularity over antimicrobial peptides but even powerful antimicrobials failed to reduce morbidity and mortality due to emergence of mutant strains of bacteria resulting in antimicrobial resistance. Differentiation between infection and inflammation using radiolabeled compounds with nuclear medicine techniques has always been a dilemma which is still to be resolved. Starting from nonspecific tracers to specific radiolabeled tracers, the question is still unanswered. Specific radiolabeled tracers included antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides which bind directly to the bacteria for efficient localization with advanced nuclear medicine equipments. However, there are merits and demerits attributed to each. In the current paper, radiolabeled antibiotics and radiolabeled peptides for infection localization have been discussed starting with the background of primitive nonspecific tracers. Radiolabeled antimicrobial peptides have certain merits compared with labeled antibiotics which make them superior agents for localization of infective focus.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 795-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred O. Ankrah ◽  
Hans C. Klein ◽  
Lambert F.R. Span ◽  
Erik F.J. de Vries ◽  
Rudi A.J.O. Dierckx ◽  
...  

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful diagnostic nuclear medicine imaging technique. PET allows in vivo detection of a wide variety of physiologic and pathologic phenomena and it offers a noninvasive tool for the monitoring of therapy in various diseases. Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a global concern because of the increasing population of patients at risk of IFIs and the high morbidity and mortality. Therapy with antifungal agents is long-standing and expensive. The emerging resistant fungal strains make the management of IFIs challenging. There is an absolute need for a sensitive noninvasive biomarker capable of monitoring the disease activity of IFIs and determining the efficacy of treatment at an early time point. PET imaging with 18Ffluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was used to detect and assess disease activity in IFI foci already over 20 years ago. At that time, it was suggested it could be a useful biomarker for monitoring antifungal therapy. However, this knowledge has still not been fully exploited for the management of IFIs. The literature reveals an increasing realization of the usefulness of PET in monitoring therapy of IFIs. In this review, we highlight the advantages of nuclear medicine techniques in the management of IFIs with emphasis of the role of PET in monitoring therapy efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beena Ullala Mata B N ◽  
Anup Kumar Pal ◽  
Hrithik Sivadasan ◽  
Himanshu Mishra

Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty that allows modern diagnostics and treatments using radiopharmaceuticals original radiotracers (drugs linked to a radioactive isotope). The radiopharmaceuticals are considered a special group of drugs and thus their preparation and use are regulated by a set of policies that have been adopted by individual member countries. The radiopharmaceuticals used in diagnostic examinations are administered in very small doses. So, in general, they have no pharmacological action, side effects or serious adverse reactions. The most serious issue with their use is the potential for diagnostic mistakes due to changes in their biodistribution. The appearance and development of new radiopharmaceuticals in both the diagnostic and therapeutic domains, as well as the impact of new multimodality imaging techniques, are all having a significant impact on nuclear medicine (SPECT-CT, PET-CT, PET-MRI, etc.). It is crucial to understand the techniques limitations, radiopharmaceutical distribution and potential physiological changes, radiological contrast contraindications and bad responses, and the possibility of both interfering. The process of generating radiopharmaceuticals is introduced and relevant interactions of radiation with matter are discussed. Diagnostic nuclear medicine instrumentation is explained, and future trends in nuclear medicine imaging technology are forecasted.


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