Abstract
Molecular imaging, where the location of molecules or nanoscale constructs can be tracked in the body to report on disease or biochemical processes, is rapidly expanding to include combined modality or multimodal imaging. No single imaging technique can offer the optimum combination of properties (e.g. resolution, sensitivity, cost, availability). The rapid technological advances in hardware to scan patients, and software to process and fuse images, are pushing the boundaries of novel medical imaging approaches, and hand-in-hand with this is the requirement for advanced and specific multimodal imaging agents. These agents can be detected using a selection from radioisotope, magnetic resonance and optical imaging, among others. Nanoparticles offer great scope in this area as they lend themselves, via facile modification procedures, to act as multifunctional constructs. They have relevance as therapeutics and drug delivery agents that can be tracked by molecular imaging techniques with the particular development of applications in optically guided surgery and as radiosensitizers. There has been a huge amount of research work to produce nanoconstructs for imaging, and the parameters for successful clinical translation and validation of therapeutic applications are now becoming much better understood. It is an exciting time of progress for these agents as their potential is closer to being realized with translation into the clinic. The coming 5-10 years will be critical, as we will see if the predicted improvement in clinical outcomes becomes a reality. Some of the latest advances in combination modality agents are selected and the progression pathway to clinical trials analysed.This article is part of the themed issue 'Challenges for chemistry in molecular imaging'.
Highlights
Molecular imaging, where the location of molecules or nanoscale constructs can be tracked in the body to report on disease or biochemical processes, is rapidly expanding to include combined modality or multimodal imaging
The rapid technological advances in hardware to scan patients, and software to process and fuse images, are pushing the boundaries of novel medical imaging approaches, and hand-in-hand with this is the requirement for advanced and specific multimodal imaging agents. These agents can be detected using a selection from radioisotope, magnetic resonance and optical imaging, among others
Nanoparticles offer great scope in this area as they lend themselves, via facile modification procedures, to act as multifunctional constructs. They have relevance as therapeutics and drug delivery agents that can be tracked by molecular imaging techniques with the particular development of applications in optically guided surgery and as radiosensitizers
Summary
Despite slow progress [51,52], the parameters for successful translation to clinical trials are becoming better understood for nanoparticle constructs. The initial study showed no toxic or adverse events, prompting an expansion of this work in 2014 to the currently ongoing clinical trials These agents combine the use of targeting peptides, radioisotopes and an optical dye (cyanine 5 dye) into a silica nanoparticle. Any planned clinical translational project will need to mitigate these issues and provide the data required to ensure both that the concerns of public bodies are fully addressed and that the system has been appropriately optimized in the preclinical setting [66]. At this stage the particle size effects and biodistribution can be determined using imaging techniques. It is clear that accurate and effective in vivo tracking of nanoconstructs using radionuclide labelling can be a facilitating technique for progression to clinical trials, and this is even more effective when combined with optical imaging techniques for ex vivo tissue analysis and MR for longitudinal imaging [5,70]
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