Challenges and opportunities for positron-emission tomography in personalized medicine.

Of the non-invasive functional imaging tools available, positron-emission tomography (PET) is generally expected to have the greatest potential for delivering the vision of personalized medicine. This can be achieved by the production of designer PET probes with exquisite sensitivity that can profile key biological processes that are specific to a disease. However, the challenge for the PET field will be its capability to produce and supply cost-effective PET probes to the wider community. This will most likely be achieved through the provision of long-lived PET radioisotopes with imaging qualities that match the performance of the evolving PET camera technology and chemistry that is amenable to kit formulations. Additionally, of the emerging PET radiotracers, (64)Cu has the optimum chemistry and emission characteristics for the wider application of PET in personalized medicine.