The use of multiple biomedical imaging techniques is progressively growing and has considerably improved all phases of cancer management. Nowadays, five major imaging modalities are currently available to assess the morphological, structural, metabolic and functional information. These are (1) optical bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging techniques, (2) X-ray based computed tomography, (3) Radionuclide-based positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emitted computed tomography (SPECT), (4) ultrasound imaging and (5) magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging (MRS/MRI). In basic oncology, the enormous advances in the knowledge of cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer diseases are supplemented by the molecular imaging, which allowed in-vivo visualization of molecular events at the cellular level in living organisms. In clinical oncology, the integration of multimodality imaging with other diagnostic tools is undoubtedly the major contribution in early cancer detection and clinical decision-making. Imaging is a non-invasive assessment of treatment response and allows the development of new therapeutic approaches. The image-guided and targeted therapy has a promising approach to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce side effects.
展开▼