Molecular imaging in breast cancer

Progress in the ability to assay molecular processes, including gene expression, protein expression, and molecular and cellular biochemistry, has fueled advances in our understanding of breast cancer biology and has led to the identification of new treatments for patients with breast cancer.Most imaging modalities used in clinical practice are largely anatomic in nature, using tissue features such as size, shape, and density to identify breast cancer. Anatomic imaging modalities commonly used for detecting both primary breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer include mammography, computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By contrast, molecular imaging modalities allow for imaging of regional biochemistry and molecular biology. molecular imaging measures regional in vivo biochemical, cellular, and molecular properties of tumors and normal tissues. By targeting underlying molecular processes, molecular imaging modalities can image biologic processes specific to cancer and this may aid in cancer detection and characterization and complement traditional anatomic imaging methods.because molecular imaging has important role in oncology, So in this review, we describes the current role and potential of molecular imaging modalities for detection and characterization of breast cancer and focuses primarily on radionuclide-based molecular imaging.

کلیدواژه ها:

breast cancer ، molecular imaging ، radionuclide imaging