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Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine

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A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular and Translational Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2016) | Viewed by 35727

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Benjamin Franc

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Guest Editor

Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco 185 Berry Street, Suite 350, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
Interests: nuclear-based molecular imaging techniques including PET, SPECT, and PET-MRI; image quantification; immunological-based imaging agents for diagnosis of infection and cancer; radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy; radiomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, “Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine”, will focus on the evolving role of molecular imaging in screening and selecting pharmaceuticals for further development, choosing effective therapies, and monitoring the effects of therapies in the clinic.

Molecular imaging encompasses a wide range of modalities and imaging strategies. Nuclear-based imaging modalities, including positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging have been joined by ultrasound, optical, and other strategies to interrogate molecular signatures and biochemistry in vivo. Recent advances in chemical synthesis, high throughput screening, and detector capabilities have opened new opportunities to integrate molecular imaging into new arenas of drug discovery and implementation.

This Special Issue will specifically explore the ways in which these new molecular imaging strategies can complement cutting-edge advances in genomics, proteomics, and information analytics, including the explosion of “Big Data” applications, in facilitating the personalization of medicine. Personalized medicine promises to deliver the most effective therapies to patients, guided by a synthesis of information from genomics, proteomics, other clinical data sources, and, now, molecular imaging. Submissions contributing to the understanding of molecular imaging’s role in personalized medicine, through basic science, pre-clinical, and clinical studies are cordially invited.

Both original manuscripts and reviews will be considered.

Dr. Benjamin Franc
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

positron emission tomography
gamma imaging
magnetic resonance imaging
bioluminence/fluorescence imaging
theranostics
nanomaterials-based imaging
immune-based imaging
radiomics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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1603 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Nano-Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Nano-MRI) Gives Personalized Medicine a New Perspective

by Lorenzo Rosa, Jonathan Blackledge and Albert Boretti

Biomedicines 2017, 5(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines5010007 - 01 Feb 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6958

Abstract

This paper reviews some of the major and most recent advances in nanoscale-magnetic resonance imaging (nano-MRI) for personalized medicine (PM). Nano-MRI may drastically expand the capabilities of the traditional magnetic resonance images (MRI), down to the nanometer scale and possibly, in the near future, at the atomic scale. Nano-MRI is potentially able to observe structures which cannot be seen using today’s molecular imaging, with sensitivities of many billions of times better than MRI as currently used in hospitals, for example. The paper briefly reports on the foremost research themes in nano-MRI. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine)

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3821 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Glioma FMISO PET/MR Imaging Concurrent with Antiangiogenic Therapy: Molecular Imaging as a Clinical Tool in the Burgeoning Era of Personalized Medicine

by Ramon F. Barajas, Kenneth A. Krohn, Jeanne M. Link, Randall A. Hawkins, Jennifer L. Clarke, Miguel H. Pampaloni and Soonmee Cha

Biomedicines 2016, 4(4), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines4040024 - 31 Oct 2016

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4607

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a focused overview of the current use of positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging in the burgeoning era of personalized medicine in the treatment of patients with glioma. Specifically, we demonstrate the utility of PET imaging as a tool for personalized diagnosis and therapy by highlighting a case series of four patients with recurrent high grade glioma who underwent 18F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) PET/MR (magnetic resonance) imaging through the course of antiangiogenic therapy. Three distinct features were observed from this small cohort of patients. First, the presence of pseudoprogression was retrospectively associated with the absence of hypoxia. Second, a subgroup of patients with recurrent high grade glioma undergoing bevacizumab therapy demonstrated disease progression characterized by an enlarging nonenhancing mass with newly developed reduced diffusion, lack of hypoxia, and preserved cerebral blood volume. Finally, a reduction in hypoxic volume was observed concurrent with therapy in all patients with recurrent tumor, and markedly so in two patients that developed a nonenhancing reduced diffusion mass. This case series demonstrates how medical imaging has the potential to influence personalized medicine in several key aspects, especially involving molecular PET imaging for personalized diagnosis, patient specific disease prognosis, and therapeutic monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine)

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Review

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2750 KiB

Open AccessReview

Complementary Approaches to Existing Target Based Drug Discovery for Identifying Novel Drug Targets

by Suhas Vasaikar, Pooja Bhatia, Partap G. Bhatia and Koon Chu Yaiw

Biomedicines 2016, 4(4), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines4040027 - 21 Nov 2016

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 9515

Abstract

In the past decade, it was observed that the relationship between the emerging New Molecular Entities and the quantum of R&D investment has not been favorable. There might be numerous reasons but few studies stress the introduction of target based drug discovery approach as one of the factors. Although a number of drugs have been developed with an emphasis on a single protein target, yet identification of valid target is complex. The approach focuses on an in vitro single target, which overlooks the complexity of cell and makes process of validation drug targets uncertain. Thus, it is imperative to search for alternatives rather than looking at success stories of target-based drug discovery. It would be beneficial if the drugs were developed to target multiple components. New approaches like reverse engineering and translational research need to take into account both system and target-based approach. This review evaluates the strengths and limitations of known drug discovery approaches and proposes alternative approaches for increasing efficiency against treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine)

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Graphical abstract

1654 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Strategies to Homogenize PET/CT Metrics: The Case of Onco-Haematological Clinical Trials

by Stephane Chauvie and Fabrizio Bergesio

Biomedicines 2016, 4(4), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines4040026 - 15 Nov 2016

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4528

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) has been a widely used tool in oncology for staging lymphomas for a long time. Recently, several large clinical trials demonstrated its utility in therapy management during treatment, paving the way to personalized medicine. In doing so, the traditional way of reporting PET based on the extent of disease has been complemented by a discrete scale that takes in account tumour metabolism. However, due to several technical, physical and biological limitations in the use of PET uptake as a biomarker, stringent rules have been used in clinical trials to reduce the errors in its evaluation. Within this manuscript we will describe shortly the evolution in PET reporting, examine the main errors in uptake measurement, and analyse which strategy the clinical trials applied to reduce them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine)

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Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Personalized Dosimetry for Radionuclide Therapy Using Molecular Imaging Tools

by Michael Ljungberg and Katarina Sjögreen Gleisner

Biomedicines 2016, 4(4), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines4040025 - 15 Nov 2016

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9513

Abstract

For treatment of systemic malignancies, when external radiation therapy is not applicable, radionuclide therapy can be an alternative. In this form of therapy, radionuclides are administered to the patient, often in a form where the radionuclide is labelled to a molecule that plays the active part in the localization of the tumor. Since the aim is to impart lethal damage to tumor cells while maintaining possible side-effects to normal tissues at tolerable levels, a proper and accurate personalized dosimetry should be a pre-requisite. In radionuclide therapy, there is a need to measure the distribution of the radiopharmaceutical in vivo, as well as its re-distribution over time, in order estimate the total energy released in radioactive decays and subsequent charged-particle interactions, governing the absorbed dose to different organs and tumors. Measurements are usually performed by molecular imaging, more specifically planar and SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging, combined with CT. This review describes the different parts in the dosimetry chain of radionuclide therapy. Emphasis is given to molecular imaging tools and the requirements for determining absorbed doses from quantitative planar and SPECT images. As example solutions to the different problems that need to be addressed in such a dosimetric chain, we describe our tool, Lundadose, which is a set of methods that we have developed for personalized dosimetry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Imaging as a Tool for Personalized Medicine)

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