The most commonly used magnetic resonance (MR) techniques are based on detection of water proton resonances. Such agents, or imaging probes, should also prove useful in assessing new ‘personalized’ gene therapies, and in following patient long-term outcomes. Thus, a concerted effort has been made over the last decade to bring MRI into the realm of molecular imaging by using newly developed MR contrast agents for targeting cancer specific molecules and for recognizing cancer-specific microenvironments. Although highly useful, MRI is still limited by its incapacity to detect malignancies in their earliest stages. Also of great utility in cancer detection is the ability of MRI to measure altered perfusion rates that result from the neovascularization of tumors. In MRI, contrast between tissues (and tumor compartments) is generated by differences in the relaxation rates of proton nuclear spins that exist across different tissues. ![]() Early on, the choice of MRI was based on the ability of this diagnostic modality to capture anatomical images at high (i.e., submillimeter) resolution without the radiation exposure associated with alternative cross-sectional tomographic techniques, such as positron emission and computed tomography (PET and CT). ![]() Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly the imaging modality of choice for the detection and diagnosis of various benign and malignant tumors. ![]() Although such strategies offer the hope of more targeted and personalized therapies, this will only translate into a reduction in morbidity and mortality if cancers can be diagnosed at an early stage, when the disease is still treatable. The crisis has led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to sponsor major initiatives to bring new treatments, based on recent advances in molecular genomics, to the clinic. According to one report, the number of new cases of cancer will grow to almost 17 million by 2020, which translates into a one-third increased incidence of cancer over the current rate with an estimated global economic cost of 300 billion dollars 1. Despite medical advances over the last decade, cancer persists as one of the most intractable of all human diseases.
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