| Abstrakt: |
This hot topic issue is about radiopharmaceuticals and pre-clinical evaluation, being the oncology the main application field. In fact, there are several radiotracers and radiopharmaceuticals that are used at pre-clinical stage taking advantage of potentialities of nuclear medicine. These potentialities are related with the fact that nuclear medicine is an important tool to evaluate, understand and explore what happens when malignant transformation of cells occurs. The several changes of biochemical pathways that happen during this process can be explored, giving information that can be useful not only for the treatment, but also for the follow-up, staging and re-staging of cancer. The preclinical studies in cancer are currently an important subject of research and development, covering a vast area of knowledge about the understanding of the mechanisms involved in disease development. Hanahan and Weinberg described in 2000 six hallmarks of cancer which correspond to distinctive and complementary capabilities that allow tumor growth and metastatic dissemination [1]. These hallmarks are self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to antigrowth signals, evading apoptosis, limitless replicative potential, sustained angiogenesis, and tissue invasion and metastasis. In 2011, they rewrote them adding two hallmarks, deregulation of cellular energetics and avoiding immune destruction and two consequential characteristics, the genome instability and the tumor-promoting inflammation [2]..... |
