Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 14, Issue 7, 2013

Angiogenesis plays crucial roles in tumor growth, progression and metastasis. Non-invasive in vivo imaging of tumor neovasculature is a fundamental prerequisite for effective therapeutic intervention, particularly anti-angiogenic treatment regimens. Emerging molecular imaging techniques now allow recognition of cellular/molecular processes before gross pathological changes, leading to better understanding of Read More

Cancer is becoming the largest threat to human health. Apart from classical anti-cancer therapies such as surgery, chemotherapies, and radiotherapy, many new therapies are being developed or translated into clinical use. These therapies include various neoadjuvant chemotherapies, minimally invasive treatments, and molecular-targeted therapies. However, none of these methods benefit all patients Read More

Improved knowledge and understanding of key aspects of cancer has led to the development of novel cancer therapeutics acting through complex pathways and mode of actions. The success of these novel cancer therapeutics is often difficult to predict using standard response criteria based on anatomic changes. Monitoring response to cancer therapy at molecular level using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has gained p Read More

The past few decades have brought on a dramatic change in the treatment of cancer; however, routine treatments fail to specifically clear tumorigenic cells and may be followed by cancer recurrence. Recent advances in developing multifunctional nanoparticles provide exciting new possibilities for drug delivery used in tumor-targeted therapy. Moreover, molecular imaging is an invaluable tool in evaluating new molec Read More

Cancer is a lethal disease, and its therapy should be tailed to individual patients by functional imaging to optimize therapy strategies. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a quantitative functional imaging modality used by oncologists to monitor tumor response. SPECT can track therapy-induced biological and metabolic changes in tumors; such changes usually precede anatomical alterations. Assessment of Read More

Glycoarrays are very useful tools to investigate the carbohydrate-protein interactions in high-throughput manner. Carbohydrates can be immobilized on the support surface by covalent or noncovalent binding. The biological and medical uses of glycoarrays were summarized herein.