RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 How Many PET Tracers Do We Need?
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 36S
OP 41S
DO 10.2967/jnumed.110.085738
VO 52
IS Supplement 2
A1 Schwaiger, Markus
A1 Wester, Hans-Jürgen
YR 2011
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/52/Supplement_2/36S.abstract
AB The recognized need for new PET tracers is associated with increases in available PET instrumentation and with unmet clinical challenges in the early diagnosis and staging of diseases. The clinical success of 18F-FDG PET has resulted in the acceptance of biologic signals as part of disease management. The advantages of PET technology over SPECT will lead to the introduction of new PET tracers for established nuclear medicine imaging indications. Disease-specific markers such as amyloid ligands will lead to new applications of PET to neurodegenerative diseases that are prevalent in aging societies. The translation of molecular imaging to clinical applications will require combining specific tracer approaches with targeted therapy for the realization of personalized medicine. An important aspect of the introduction of new PET tracers will be the emergence of a specialized radiopharmaceutical industry and professional distribution networks. The number of available PET tracers not only will follow rules of demand and supply but also will be dependent on the regulatory environment of individual health care systems.