Molecular Imaging and Precision Medicine in Lung Cancer

PET Clin. 2017 Jan;12(1):53-62. doi: 10.1016/j.cpet.2016.08.008. Epub 2016 Sep 10.

Abstract

Precision medicine allows tailoring of preventive or therapeutic interventions to avoid the expense and toxicity of futile treatment given to those who will not respond. Lung cancer is a heterogeneous disease functionally and morphologically. PET is a sensitive molecular imaging technique with a major role in the precision medicine algorithm of patients with lung cancer. It contributes to the precision medicine of lung neoplasia by interrogating tumor heterogeneity throughout the body. It provides anatomofunctional insight during diagnosis, staging, and restaging of the disease. It is a biomarker of tumoral heterogeneity that helps direct selection of the most appropriate treatment, the prediction of early response to cytotoxic and cytostatic therapies, and is a prognostic biomarker in patients with lung cancer.

Keywords: Cancer staging; Lung cancer; Positron emission tomography; Precision medicine; Solitary pulmonary nodule; Targeted cancer therapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Molecular Imaging*
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Precision Medicine*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis
  • Radiopharmaceuticals

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Radiopharmaceuticals