Radiolabeled inorganic nanoplatforms for PET-image guided cancer theranostics

Positron emission tomography (PET) image-guided techniques have the potential to play an important role in the investigation of the pharmacokinetics of therapeutic drug delivery systems and monitoring their therapeutic responses for cancer management. This field of study has rapidly advanced over the last few years, thanks to the application of nanotechnology and advances in PET imaging instrumentation. Various types of inorganic nanoplatforms, such as metals and oxide nanoparticles, have been developed to deliver PET imaging agents (positron emitting radioisotopes) and chemotherapeutic drugs for cancer theranostics. This paper focuses on the recent developments in PET image-guided drug delivery using these theranostic inorganic nanoplatforms and discusses the challenges ahead for potential clinical translation of this approach. (author)