Novel Target Selection for Nuclear Medicine Studies.

Nuclear medicine techniques involving SPECT and PET are being increasingly used as a noninvasive tool for the detection, quantitation and therapy response monitoring of a myriad of disease processes through target visualization and kinetic modeling. The target selection requires a good understanding of the physiologic changes involved in the disease processes. The target selected can range from cellular proteins expressed in a particular organ, biochemical pathways in cells, or receptors on circulating blood cells. This can have a significant impact on therapeutic options for subsequent therapies, including radionuclide therapies in this evolving world of theranostic practices, which is outlined in this review.