Radioimmunoimaging And Radioimmunotherapy

This book explores the close connection between immunology and nuclear medicine, which has led to radioimmunoimaging and radioimmunotherapy (RIT). Molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is increasingly being used to diagnose, characterize, and monitor disease activity in the context of inflammatory disorders of known and unknown etiology, such as sarcoidosis, atherosclerosis, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and degenerative joint disease. The first chapters discuss the various radiopharmaceutical agents and radiolabeled preparations that have been employed in inflammation imaging. Of these, FDG-PET imaging has been shown to have the great value in the detection of inflammation and has become the centerpiece of several initiatives over the last several years. This very powerful technique will play an increasingly important role in the management of patients with inflammatory conditions in the future. The book also explores the growing role of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The rapid pace of change has been fueled by advances in our understanding of tumor biology, on the one hand, and the development of specifically targeted medical therapies, diagnostic agents, and radiotherapies, on the other. Written by leading international experts in the field, this book is an invaluable tool for nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, oncologists, and immunologists.

The advent of hybridoma technology leading to the successful produc tion of monoclonal antibodies against a variety of tumor-associated antigens has, during the last decade, provided a very powerful tool for research and clinical investigations. These highly specific reagents have essentially replaced the polysera of the earlier days. The successful demonstration of the many wide ranging capabilities of the monoclonal antibody technique has already begun to exert an enormous impact on diverse areas of research in basic science and medicine. In particular, the potential of monoclonal antibodies to serve as carriers for selective targeting of radionuclides to tumors for diagnosis or therapy, has stimulated an intense surge of research interest and even revived hopes of realizing Ehrlich's concept of the "magic bullet". Indeed, the technology appears to be on the threshold of a revolution in diagnosing and treating malignant disease. Much work remains to be done, however, and even though the progress has been impressive, results to date have shown only moderate success. There is no question that the limited success we have achieved thus far is merely a prelude to the many more exciting developments yet to come.

Cancer Therapy with Radiolabeled Antibodies explores the most current experimental and clinical advances in the newly emerging field of cancer radioimmunotherapy (RAIT). Providing a multidisciplinary and international context, some of the world's leading experts examine the problems and prospects of RAIT from radiation, immunological, chemical, physical, physiological, and clinical perspectives with both overviews and original research. Discussions cover the up-to-date clinical results in the RAIT of ovarian, breast, colorectal, and brain cancers, as well as the current status of RAIT in the management of B cell lymphomas. Radiobiology, dosimetry, radiochemistry, targeting biology in experimental models, clinical experiences in hematopoietic and solid tumors, and new approaches to improve cancer radioimmunotherapy are also discussed. In addition, new dosimetry concepts, new labeling methods, new concepts of antibody pharmacokinetics, and new methods to enhance selective cancer radioimmunotherapy are included.

The series "Medical Radiology - Diagnostic Imaging and Radiation Oncology" is the successor to the well known "Encyclopedia of Medical RadiologyjHandbuch der medizinischen Radiologie". This international handbook with its unique compila tion of data in more than fifty volumes lags behind the fast developing knowledge in radiology today. "Medical Radiology" brings the state of the art on special topics in a timely fashion. The first volume of the series was "Lung cancer", edited by Scarantino. This volume "Innovation in Radiation Oncology", edited by H.R. Withers and L.J. Peters, presents data on the development of new therapeutic strategies in different oncologic diseases. 57 authors wrote 32 chapters covering a broad range of topics. The innovations are at various levels of development, but were all chosen with the practicing radiation oncologist in mind. Perhaps not all of the innovations will survive the test of time, others have now become well established standard procedure in some centers. Also discussed is the assessment of the effectiveness of standard treat ment and how it effects the quality of a patient's survival. The contributions have been grouped into 9 broad sections as outlined in the table of contents. We think the second volume, as the whole series, will provide valuable reading for the general community of radiation oncologists.

This book introduces molecular imaging and Target Therapy in various cancers. The first part is the subjects and primary focused on the basics of nuclear physics, radiation dosimetry, nuclear medicine equipment and small animal imaging equipment. The second part is about the radiopharmaceutical and commonly used clinical radiopharmaceuticals, including positron emission imaging agent, single photon emission imaging agent, and radionuclide therapy agents as well as their radioactive preparation, quality control, and a brief clinical application were included. Also, this part introduces a number of new imaging agents which were potential value of clinical applications. In the third part, the clinical application of the conventional imaging agent 18F-FDG in different tumors and neurodegenerative diseases and 18F-Dopa imaging in the nervous system are discussed. Besides the clinical applications of 99mTc labeled radiopharmaceuticals in parathyroid disease, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, sentinel lymph node, metastatic bone tumors, liver and gallbladder disease in children are introduced. Finally, the applications of radionuclide 131I on treatments of Graves' disease and differentiated thyroid cancer and metastases are investigated respectively. This book is a useful reference for professionals engaged in nuclear medicine and clinical research, including clinical nuclear medicine physicians, nuclear medicine engineers and nuclear medicine pharmacists.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of antibody conjugates for in vivo applications. It discusses each of the major classes of antibody conjugates used in cancer diagnosis and therapy, as well as the major chemical and biological aspects of antibody selection, conjugate preparation, characterization, and application. The book is designed to close the information gap that exists regarding these compounds between such diverse disciplines as radiochemists, immunochemists, oncologists, clinicians and immunologists. It also provides a thorough overview for newcomers to the field.

With the publication of these proceedings from the Second Drug Discovery and Development Symposium, this forum has become the main mechanism for bringing together the principal groups involved in both discovering and developing new approaches to the treatment of cancer. This Second Symposium emphasized the types of materials being discovered and their therapeutic activity. This is especially evident in the natural product discovery programs, where unique and active structures are being identified. The major contributors to the meeting were the investigators participating in the National Cooperative (Natural Products) Drug Discovery Groups [NC(NP)DDG]. These groups reflect an association among researchers at universities or cancer centers, pharmaceutical companies and the National Cancer Institute. Their sources of materials are varied, reflecting chemical inventories of pharmaceutical companies, organic synthetic compounds from the laboratory, cytotoxics as well as biologics and their hybrids, and natural products obtained from plants, marine organisms and microorganisms. The models employed in the discovery systems vary from broadly cellular based to specific enzymes to defined cellular functions. Each of them is believed important to the malignant state and will allow for the discovery of compounds which will have efficacy in cancer therapy. The goal of the participants is both to discover new anticancer agents and to develop them as efficiently as possible into clinically useful additions to treatment. Of importance is the fact that there are a number of promising leads which will soon be moving into the clinic thereby testing the effectiveness of this NC (NP) DDG approach.