MOLECULAR IMAGING IN CANCER: HOW THE HALLMARKS AID IN HUNTING

Diagnosis, therapy response and patient follow up have been significantly benefited by introduction of non-invasive imaging technologies in oncology. In the era of genomics, cancer has been recognised as an organised disease with vast genomic heterogeneity and precise hallmarks as set by Weinberg & Hanahan that define various aspects of tumor biology. Non-invasive imaging of these hallmarks of cancer is important which provides deep understanding of cancer biology and pave the path for future therapy. In this review, we summarize various probes and non-invasive imaging modalities that have been employed in clinics for imaging of some hallmarks of cancer and their impact on disease management. With development of better probes, methodologies and instruments molecular imaging will be going to non-invasively portray each of the hallmarks and fine tune our understanding about this devastating disease.