Title:Radiolabelled Probes Targeting Infection and Inflammation for Personalized Medicine
VOLUME: 20 ISSUE: 14
Author(s):Alberto Signore, Chiara Lauri and Filippo Galli
Affiliation:Nuclear Medicine Unit, Ospedale S. Andrea, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189 Rome, Italy.
Keywords:Infection, inflammation, radiolabelled cells, radiolabelled antibodies, radiolabelled antibiotics, FDG.
Abstract:Inflammatory and infectious diseases include many different clinical conditions not often well recognised and characterized
with conventional radiology and biochemical tests. Radiological techniques (TC, MRI, US) show anatomical changes that usually occur
in chronic stages of the disease leading to a delayed diagnosis and therapy. The possibility of Nuclear Medicine imaging to detect biological
and biochemical changes in the earliest phases of diseases, allow the clinician not only to promptly identify the infective or inflammatory
focus, but also to establish the best therapeutic approach for the patient. The recent availability of different monoclonal antibodies
and analogues of growth and signalling factors offers physicians a wide spectrum of promising radiopharmaceuticals as markers
for different pathological events. Therefore, NM may help in therapy decision making, management and follow-up through the evaluation
of the expression of these specific molecules, leading to the development of personalized therapies. The appeal to Nuclear Medicine imaging
is becoming, indeed, more and more widespread not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for monitoring drug efficacy. Several
advances have been observed in this field, and they seem to be very promising for a tailored medicine.
