Main description:

Nanoengineering, energized by the desire to find specific targeting agents, is leading to dramatic acceleration in novel drug design. However, in this flurry of activity, some issues may be overlooked. This is especially true in the area of determining dosage and evaluating the effects of multiple agents designed to target more than one site of metastasis.

Offering the unique perspective of a medical physicist who has worked directly with cancer patients for over three decades, Radiopharmaceuticals: Introduction to Drug Evaluation and Dose Estimation starts by exploring the recent history and current state of the field. Then, citing key research and practical examples, the author looks at how to run studies and employ estimation and evaluation methods that lead to the best multiple agents with the least amount of trial and error. He discusses methods that will allow researchers to more rigorously:

Differentiate one radiopharmaceutical (RP) from another

Estimate radiation doses

Correlate results across various species to realize more informed data from clinical trials

Incorporating developments in nanotechnology and radiology, with the ultimate goal of achieving personalized patient-specific treatment, this book crosses disciplines to addresses a range of topics including:

Preclinical RP development

Organization of clinical trials

Determination of activity in vivo

Modeling and temporal integration with a look at the mass law for tumor uptake as a function of tumor size (discovered by the author)

Absorbed dose estimates with and without clinical correlations

Multiple-modality therapy

Dr. Lawrence Williams has devoted most of his life's research to tumor detection and treatment, and his discoveries continue to influence evolving therapies. As s a medical physicist, he is eminently qualified to bring unique insight into the discussion of radiopharmaceutical dosage rates and efficacy.

Contents:

Tumor Targeting and a Problem of Plenty. Preclinical Development of Radiopharmaceuticals and Planning of Clinical Trials. Selection of Radiopharmaceuticals for Clinical Trials. Absorbed Dose Estimation and Measurement. Determination of Activity In Vivo. Modeling and Temporal Integration. Functions Used to Determine Absorbed Dose Given Activity Integrals. Absorbed Dose Estimates without Clinical Correlations. Dose Estimates and Correlations with Laboratory and Clinical Results. Multiple-Modality Therapy of Tumors. Allometry (Of Mice and Men). Summary of Radiopharm-aceuticals and Dose Estimation. Index.