Nanoparticles for PET imaging of tumors and cancer metastasis

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a highly translational imaging modality with high sensitivity for oncological imaging. A wide range of classes of nanoparticles have been radiolabeled with a variety of positron-emitting radionuclides; however, the vast majority of nanoparticles have been labeled with longer-lived Cu-64 (T 1/2 = 12.7 h) and Zr-89 (T 1/2 = 78.4 h), due to their relatively slow clearance from the blood into tumors. PET imaging with nanoparticles has been investigated with agents that passively accumulate in tumors via the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, and nanoparticles have also been conjugated to targeting agents that include peptides and antibodies (or fragmented constructs thereof) for more active receptor-based tumor targeting. This chapter provides an overview of nanoparticle-based PET agents that have been developed for tumor targeting.