Targets Tracers And Translation Novel Radiopharmaceuticals Boost Nuclear Medicine

This is the fourth Special Issue in Pharmaceuticals within the last six years dealing with aspects of radiopharmaceutical sciences. It demonstrates the significant interest and increasing relevance to ameliorate nuclear medicine imaging with PET or SPECT, and also radiotherapeutical procedures.Numerous targets and mechanisms have been identified and have been under investigation over the previous years, covering many fields of medical and clinical research. This development is well illustrated by the articles in the present issue, including 13 original research papers and one review, covering a broad range of actual research topics in the field of radiopharmaceutical sciences.

This is the fourth Special Issue in Pharmaceuticals within the last six years dealing with aspects of radiopharmaceutical sciences. It demonstrates the significant interest and increasing relevance to ameliorate nuclear medicine imaging with PET or SPECT, and also radiotherapeutical procedures.Numerous targets and mechanisms have been identified and have been under investigation over the previous years, covering many fields of medical and clinical research. This development is well illustrated by the articles in the present issue, including 13 original research papers and one review, covering a broad range of actual research topics in the field of radiopharmaceutical sciences.

Nearly 20 million nuclear medicine procedures are carried out each year in the United States alone to diagnose and treat cancers, cardiovascular disease, and certain neurological disorders. Many of the advancements in nuclear medicine have been the result of research investments made during the past 50 years where these procedures are now a routine part of clinical care. Although nuclear medicine plays an important role in biomedical research and disease management, its promise is only beginning to be realized. Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation highlights the exciting emerging opportunities in nuclear medicine, which include assessing the efficacy of new drugs in development, individualizing treatment to the patient, and understanding the biology of human diseases. Health care and pharmaceutical professionals will be most interested in this book's examination of the challenges the field faces and its recommendations for ways to reduce these impediments.

This book is a comprehensive guide to radiopharmaceutical chemistry. The stunning clinical successes of nuclear imaging and targeted radiotherapy have resulted in rapid growth in the field of radiopharmaceutical chemistry, an essential component of nuclear medicine and radiology. However, at this point, interest in the field outpaces the academic and educational infrastructure needed to train radiopharmaceutical chemists. For example, the vast majority of texts that address radiopharmaceutical chemistry do so only peripherally, focusing instead on nuclear chemistry (i.e. nuclear reactions in reactors), heavy element radiochemistry (i.e. the decomposition of radioactive waste), or solely on the clinical applications of radiopharmaceuticals (e.g. the use of PET tracers in oncology). This text fills that gap by focusing on the chemistry of radiopharmaceuticals, with key coverage of how that knowledge translates to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for the clinic. The text is divided into three overarching sections: First Principles, Radiochemistry, and Special Topics. The first is a general overview covering fundamental and broad issues like “The Production of Radionuclides” and “Basics of Radiochemistry”. The second section is the main focus of the book. In this section, each chapter’s author will delve much deeper into the subject matter, covering both well established and state-of-the-art techniques in radiopharmaceutical chemistry. This section will be divided according to radionuclide and will include chapters on radiolabeling methods using all of the common nuclides employed in radiopharmaceuticals, including four chapters on the ubiquitously used fluorine-18 and a “Best of the Rest” chapter to cover emerging radionuclides. Finally, the third section of the book is dedicated to special topics with important information for radiochemists, including “Bioconjugation Methods,” “Click Chemistry in Radiochemistry”, and “Radiochemical Instrumentation.” This is an ideal educational guide for nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, and radiopharmaceutical chemists, as well as residents and trainees in all of these areas.

This state-of-the-art handbook, the third and final in a series that provides medical physicists with a comprehensive overview into the field of nuclear medicine, focuses on highlighting the production and application of radiopharmaceuticals. With this, the book also describes the chemical composition of these compounds, as well as some of the main clinical applications where radiopharmaceuticals may be used. Following an introduction to the field of radiopharmacy, three chapters in this book are dedicated towards in-depth descriptions of common radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals used during diagnostic studies utilizing planar/Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging, in addition to during Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, and, finally, radiotherapy. These chapters are followed by those describing procedures relating to quality control and manufacturing (good manufacturing practices) also encompassing aspects such as environmental compliance. Furthermore, this volume illustrates how facilities handling these chemicals should be designed to comply with set regulations. Like many pharmaceuticals, the development of radiopharmaceuticals relies heavily on the use of mouse models. Thus, the translation of radiopharmaceuticals (i.e., the process undertaken to assure that the functionality and safety of a newly developed drug is maintained also in a human context), is covered in a later chapter. This is followed by a chapter emphasising the importance of safe waste disposal and how to assure that these procedures meet the requirements set for the disposal of hazardous waste. Several chapters have also been dedicated towards describing various medical procedures utilizing clinical nuclear medicine as a tool for diagnostics and therapeutics. As physicists may be involved in clinical trials, a chapter describing the procedures and regulations associated with these types of studies is included. This is followed by a chapter focusing on patient safety and another on an imaging modality not based on ionizing radiation – ultrasound. Finally, the last chapter of this book discusses future perspectives of the field of nuclear medicine. This text will be an invaluable resource for libraries, institutions, and clinical and academic medical physicists searching for a complete account of what defines nuclear medicine. The most comprehensive reference available providing a state-of-the-art overview of the field of nuclear medicine Edited by a leader in the field, with contributions from a team of experienced medical physicists, chemists, engineers, scientists, and clinical medical personnel Includes the latest practical research in the field, in addition to explaining fundamental theory and the field's history

This book provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of both the basic principles and the clinical applications of nuclear oncology imaging techniques. The authors have assembled a distinguished group of leaders in the field who provide valuable insight on the subject. The book also includes major chapters on the cancer patient and the pathophysiology of abnormal tissue, the evaluation of co-existing disease, and the diagnosis and therapy of specific tumors using functional imaging studies. Each chapter is heavily illustrated to assist the reader in understanding the clinical role of nuclear oncology in cancer disease therapy and management.

In vitro, in vivo, and in silico preclinical models hold a widely acknowledged potential, yet complex limitations. For this reason, which has been known for a long time by experimenters and modelers, the translation of “science products” to the clinic is still far. Therefore, there is a raising awareness of the need to bridge this gap by developing integrated and innovative models. Organ and tissue bioengineering is an ideal approach to foster innovative strategies in significant research and clinical areas. Similarly, in translational neuroscience research, this challenge has been taken up by intriguing fish models. However, much research based on novel methodologies has still to be performed to get the bench closer to the bedside.

Radioisotope-based molecular imaging probes provide unprecedented insight into biochemistry and function involved in both normal and disease states of living systems, with unbiased in vivo measurement of regional radiotracer activities offering very high specificity and sensitivity. No other molecular imaging technology including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can provide such high sensitivity and specificity at a tracer level. The applications of this technology can be very broad ranging from drug development, pharmacokinetics, clinical investigations, and finally to routine diagnostics in radiology. The design and the development of radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging studies using PET/MicroPET or SPECT/MicroSPECT are a unique challenge. This book is intended for a broad audience and written with the main purpose of educating the reader on various aspects including potential clinical utility, limitations of drug development, and regulatory compliance and approvals.