Tumor biology characterization by imaging in laboratory

Abstract

The practice of modern medicine in cancer treatment is moving toward an increasingly tailored approach. Current therapeutic strategies require careful pretreatment stratification and timely and effective monitoring during and after therapy, in order to maximize patient benefit. Accordingly, there is an increasing need to non-invasively delineate individual patient characteristics, with particular attention to the tumor biology underlying cellular and extra-cellular mechanisms involved in the development and progression of the disease, as well as in treatment response. For this purpose, one of the major priorities in oncological research has been identified in developing increasingly sensitive and specific imaging biomarkers for noninvasive characterization of cancer-related features. Different imaging methods are currently being developed in experimental murine models of human diseases in order to identify and implement innovative biomarkers with the perspective of clinical translation. After a brief review of the currently available tumor models of cancer, this chapter summarizes the current status of preclinical in vivo imaging techniques and the future perspectives of emerging imaging biomarkers for the characterization of tumor biology and behavior.