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Cancers
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Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology
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Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Cancer Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2025) | Viewed by 3210

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Angela Spanu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Interests: nuclear medicine; image-based diagnostics; SPECT; SPECT/CT; PET/CT; molecular breast imaging; oncology (breast cancer, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and prostate cancer); radiomics; neurodegenerative disorders; radiometabolic therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Imaging plays a key role in the management of cancer patients. In recent years, besides the use of conventional imaging methods, advanced radiological and nuclear medicine procedures have increasingly been used, providing not only morphological but also functional information and quantitative parameters focused on tumor metabolism and biology. Now, radiomic and radiogenomic features can also be extracted from imaging, adding further important biomarkers. The combined use of imaging data, clinical and genetic profiles, circulating biomarkers, and artificial intelligence makes it possible to design predictive models, leading to personalized treatment and the better outcome of cancer patients. The employment of new theranostic and nanotheranostic agents could also contribute to the achievement of this goal.

In this Special Issue, we encourage researchers to submit their original papers, review articles, brief communications, or comments on “Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology”. Papers that suggest novel diagnostic approaches, such as radiomics, artificial intelligence, and theranostics, are also welcome to be submitted.

Prof. Dr. Angela Spanu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cancer
  • oncological imaging
  • molecular imaging
  • SPECT/TC
  • PET/CT
  • PET/MRI
  • DWI
  • DCE-MRI
  • nanotheranostics
  • artificial intelligence
  • radiomics
  • theranostics

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 931 KiB  
Communication
Radiomics Features from Positron Emission Tomography with [18F] Fluorodeoxyglucose Can Help Predict Cervical Nodal Status in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
by Francesco Bianconi, Roberto Salis, Mario Luca Fravolini, Muhammad Usama Khan, Luca Filippi, Andrea Marongiu, Susanna Nuvoli, Angela Spanu and Barbara Palumbo
Cancers 2024, 16(22), 3759; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16223759 - 7 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1173
Abstract
Background: Detecting pathological lymph nodes (LNs) is crucial for establishing the proper clinical approach in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Positron emission tomography with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET) has high diagnostic value, although it can yield false positives since [...] Read more.
Background: Detecting pathological lymph nodes (LNs) is crucial for establishing the proper clinical approach in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Positron emission tomography with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET) has high diagnostic value, although it can yield false positives since FDG-avid LNs can also occur from non-cancerous diseases. Objectives: To explore if radiomics features from FDG PET can enhance the identification of pathological lymph nodes in head and neck cancer. Materials and methods: This study was carried out on n=51 cervical lymph nodes (26 negative, 25 positive) from a cohort of n=27 subjects, and the standard of reference was fine needle aspiration cytology or excisional biopsy. An initial set of 54 IBSI-compliant radiomics features, which was subsequently reduced to 31 after redundancy elimination, was considered for the analysis. Mann–Whitney U tests were performed to compare each feature between positive and negative LNs. Classification models based on two sets of features, PETBase (SUVmax, MTV and TLG) and PETRad (radiomics features), respectively, were trained using logistic regression, support vector machines and Gaussian naïve Bayes, and their performance was compared. Accuracy was estimated via leave-one-out cross-validation. Results: We identified via univariate analysis 21 features that were statistically different between positive and negative LNs. In particular, dispersion features indicated that positive LNs had higher uptake non-uniformity than the negative ones. AUC, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy obtained with logistic regression were, respectively, 0.840, 68.0%, 89.5% and 80.4% for PETBase and 0.880, 72.0%, 90.0% and 82.4% for PETRad. The other classification models showed the same trend. Conclusions: Radiomics features from FDG PET can improve the diagnostic accuracy of LN status in HNC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology)
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Review

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18 pages, 1368 KiB  
Review
68Ga-Trivehexin: Current Status of αvβ6-Integrin Imaging and Perspectives
by Luca Urso, Rebecca Napolitano, Giorgia Speltri, Murat Tuncel, Ilham Badrane, Licia Uccelli, Francesca Porto, Petra Martini, Alessandro Niorettini, Corrado Cittanti, Mirco Bartolomei and Alessandra Boschi
Cancers 2025, 17(9), 1504; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17091504 - 29 Apr 2025
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Molecular imaging, especially PET, has advanced significantly, shifting from metabolic radiotracers like 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose [18F]FDG to target-specific probes. Among these, αvβ6-integrin has emerged as a promising target in cancer and non-cancer diseases. This review focuses on the radiochemical properties [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Molecular imaging, especially PET, has advanced significantly, shifting from metabolic radiotracers like 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose [18F]FDG to target-specific probes. Among these, αvβ6-integrin has emerged as a promising target in cancer and non-cancer diseases. This review focuses on the radiochemical properties and initial clinical applications of the [68Ga]Ga-Trivehexin PET probe. Methods: The literature review on [68Ga]Ga-Trivehexin systematically evaluated both preclinical and clinical studies, with particular emphasis on its radiochemical characteristics and preliminary clinical applications, while highlighting advancements, associated challenges, and the potential for future developments in the field. Results: This study highlights the significant advancements achieved with [68Ga]Ga-Trivehexin in the field of molecular imaging. The optimized multimeric system has substantially enhanced the radiotracer’s pharmacokinetic properties, binding affinity, and selectivity for αvβ6 integrin, demonstrating up to an 18-fold improvement compared to previous monomeric tracers. The synthesis protocol has been refined to achieve high radiochemical purity (>95%), essential for safe clinical use. Preliminary clinical applications, particularly in head and neck cancer (HNC) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), have shown promising results, with high detection rates and improved differential diagnosis compared to [18F]FDG. Furthermore, [68Ga]Ga-Trivehexin PET/CT has shown potential in non-oncological conditions, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary hyperthyroidism, suggesting broader clinical applicability. Conclusions: [68Ga]Ga-Trivehexin is a promising PET probe for imaging αvβ6-integrin in cancers and non-oncological diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology)
14 pages, 13645 KiB  
Review
Inflammatory Pseudotumor of the Liver or Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma, That’s the Question: A Review of the Literature
by Matteo Barabino, Gaetano Piccolo, Andrea Tramacere, Stefano Volponi, Claudia Cigala, Umberto Gianelli, Carla Codecà, Francesca Patella, Giorgio Ghilardi, Francesca Lecchi and Paolo Pietro Bianchi
Cancers 2024, 16(17), 2926; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16172926 - 23 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1442
Abstract
An inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver is a rare tumor-like lesion composed of polymorphous inflammatory cell infiltrates and variable amounts of fibrosis that can often mimic a malignant liver neoplasm. The etiology of inflammatory pseudotumors of the liver is unknown; symptoms are faint [...] Read more.
An inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver is a rare tumor-like lesion composed of polymorphous inflammatory cell infiltrates and variable amounts of fibrosis that can often mimic a malignant liver neoplasm. The etiology of inflammatory pseudotumors of the liver is unknown; symptoms are faint and imaging non-specific. Thus, it is often hard to make a diagnosis preoperatively and it is not so rare to over-treat patients with this disease or vice versa. Thus, more profound knowledge is necessary to plan appropriate disease management. We reported our two cases and systematically searched the literature regarding IPTL. We selected articles published in English from four databases, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar, and we included only articles with consistent data. Twenty nine papers fulfilling criteria for the review were selected. The analysis of 69 cases published from 1953 confirmed that the risk factors are unclear, the imaging data is not specific, and biopsy is crucial but not so widely used in clinical practice due to the procedure’s related risks, and relatively low effectiveness and improvement in imaging analysis. Regarding treatment, surgeons have moved towards a more conservative attitude over the years due to better imaging quality and patient surveillance. However, surgery remains the modality of choice for most cases with an indeterminate diagnosis. Even if an inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver is a benign tumor with a good prognosis, not requiring any treatment in most cases, sometimes it remains challenging to differentiate it from ICC; therefore, there is a solid recommendation to manage this condition with a multidisciplinary team. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Imaging Techniques of Molecular Oncology)
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