Radiopharmaceuticals for Breast Cancer and Neuroendocrine Tumors: Two Examples of How Tissue Characterization May Influence the Choice of Therapy

Alberto Signore; Chiara Lauri; Sveva Auletta; Michela Varani; Livia Onofrio; Andor  W.J.M. Glaudemans; Francesco Panzuto; Paolo Marchetti

doi:10.3390/cancers12040781

Cancers (Mar 2020)

Radiopharmaceuticals for Breast Cancer and Neuroendocrine Tumors: Two Examples of How Tissue Characterization May Influence the Choice of Therapy

Alberto Signore,
Chiara Lauri,
Sveva Auletta,
Michela Varani,
Livia Onofrio,
Andor W.J.M. Glaudemans,
Francesco Panzuto,
Paolo Marchetti

Affiliations

Alberto Signore: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
Chiara Lauri: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
Sveva Auletta: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
Michela Varani: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
Livia Onofrio: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
Andor W.J.M. Glaudemans: Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9700 Groningen, The Netherlands
Francesco Panzuto: Digestive Disease Unit, AOU Sant’Andrea and ENETS Center of Excellence, 00189 Rome, Italy
Paolo Marchetti: Oncology Unit, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, and IDI-IRCCS, 00189 Rome, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12040781
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 4
p. 781

Abstract

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Molecular medicine has gained clinical relevance for the detection and staging of oncological diseases, to guide therapy decision making and for therapy follow-up due to the availability of new highly sensitive hybrid imaging camera systems and the development of new tailored radiopharmaceuticals that target specific molecules. The knowledge of the expression of different receptors on the primary tumor and on metastases is important for both therapeutic and prognostic purposes and several approaches are available aiming to achieve personalized medicine in different oncological diseases. In this review, we describe the use of specific radiopharmaceuticals to image and predict therapy response in breast cancer and neuroendocrine tumors since they represent a paradigmatic example of the importance of tumoral characterization of hormonal receptors in order to plan a tailored treatment. The most attractive radiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer are 16α-[18F]-fluoro-17β-estradiol for PET assessment of the estrogen expression, radiolabeled monoclonal antibody trastuzumab to image the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, but also the imaging of androgen receptors with [18F]-fluorodihydrotestosterone.

Published in Cancers

ISSN: 2072-6694 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers/

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