Weissleder Ralph, Pittet Mikael J
Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN 5206, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Nature. 2008 Apr 3;452(7187):580-9. doi: 10.1038/nature06917.
New technologies for imaging molecules, particularly optical technologies, are increasingly being used to understand the complexity, diversity and in vivo behaviour of cancers. 'Omic' approaches are providing comprehensive 'snapshots' of biological indicators, or biomarkers, of cancer, but imaging can take this information a step further, showing the activity of these markers in vivo and how their location changes over time. Advances in experimental and clinical imaging are likely to improve how cancer is understood at a systems level and, ultimately, should enable doctors not only to locate tumours but also to assess the activity of the biological processes within these tumours and to provide 'on the spot' treatment.
用于分子成像的新技术,尤其是光学技术,正越来越多地被用于了解癌症的复杂性、多样性和体内行为。“组学”方法正在提供癌症生物指标或生物标志物的全面“快照”,但成像可以进一步利用这些信息,显示这些标志物在体内的活性以及它们的位置如何随时间变化。实验性和临床成像的进展可能会改善在系统层面上对癌症的理解,最终,不仅应使医生能够定位肿瘤,还能评估这些肿瘤内生物过程的活性并提供“即时”治疗。