Targeting Molecular Imaging of Breast Cancer by Radioimmunodetection Method in Nuclear Medicine

Early diagnosis remains the best method of improving the odds of curing breast cancer. Mammography is an effective imaging tool in diagnosis of breast cancer. However, false negatives occur frequently, particularly when imaging post-surgical recurrence, fibrocystic breast disease and dense breast tissue in younger women. Other imaging modalities such as ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography initiated to increase the diagnostic accuracy of mammography, have strengths and weaknesses in terms of sensitivity, specificity, spatial and temporal resolution, contrast and cost. The application of nuclear medicine techniques to study patients with breast cancer has recently raised its profile, particularly in the investigation of indeterminate mammographic lesions and for overcoming limitations of other imaging techniques. For increasing sensitivity and specificity of nuclear medicine techniques, researchers are studying on targeted molecular imaging methods. The recent advances in molecular and cellular biology have facilitated the discovery of novel molecular targets of breast tumor cells such as key molecules involved in proliferation, differentiation, cell death and apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis. In this paper, the history of radioimmunodetection of breast cancer as a targeting molcular imaging method will be reviewed.