Imaging-Guided Targeted Radionuclide Tumor Therapy: From Concept to Clinical Translation
Professor Zhiyuan Zhong and Associate Professor Guanglin Wang from SU and Researcher Kuan Hu from the National Institute of Quantitative Research in Japan jointly published a review entitled Imaging-Guided Targeted Radionuclide Tumor Therapy: From Concept to Clinical Translation in Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.
Since the first introduction of [131I] sodium iodide for thyroid patients about 80 years ago, more than 50 radioactive medicines have entered the market to treat various diseases, including cancer. The paradigm of nuclear medicine has also changed from molecular imaging or radionuclide therapy alone to imaging-guided radionuclide therapy, which is considered an essential part of precision cancer therapy and an emerging mode of personalized treatment. Imaging-guided radionuclide therapy highlights the systematic integration of targeted nuclear diagnosis and radionuclide therapy (Figure 1). In this regard, the role of nuclear imaging is to visualize the lesion and guide the treatment strategy, then accurately administer a specific dose of radiation to the patient based on the absorbed amount of different organs and tumors calculated by dosimetry tools, and finally repeat the imaging to predict the prognosis. This strategy significantly increases treatment efficacy, improves patient outcomes, and can manage adverse events. This review presents imaging-guided targeted radionuclide therapy for different tumors, such as advanced prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors, with emphasis on the development of new radioligand and their preclinical and clinical results and further discussion on the challenges and future prospects.
