About this Research Topic
Nuclear medicine is gaining an increasingly important role in the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) by improving the accuracy of diagnosis and staging, in addition to risk stratification, personalized therapies, and radioligand therapies (RLT). NENs are rare and heterogeneous neoplasms, mainly arising in the gastrointestinal tract, whose diagnosis and therapies are rapidly evolving, alongside with nuclear medicine approaches. The availability of different diagnostic techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET) with different tracers - somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) and 68Ga -Dota peptide PET/CT (SSA-PET/CT) - have brought significant advances in this field. Similarly, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) have shown to benefit from nuclear medicine in both diagnosis, with increased sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, and treatment. The combination of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, referred to as theranostics, has become an essential tool for clinicians to improve differential diagnosis from other malignancies, assess tumor behavior and aggressiveness, and predict treatment response. Additionally artificial intelligence and radiomics are currently enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of patients’ care, especially in terms of tumor grade definition and treatment efficacy.
This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art regarding nuclear medicine in the neuroendocrine field, specifically focusing in NENs and PPGL. Current advancements in both diagnostic and therapeutic settings, challenges, and the future perspectives will be discussed as main topics. Leading researchers in this field are encouraged to contribute to this Topic, providing their expert opinion on the current state of the field and its future directions, making this article collection a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals.
This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art regarding nuclear medicine in the neuroendocrine field, specifically focusing in NENs and PPGL. Current advancements in both diagnostic and therapeutic settings, challenges, and the future perspectives will be discussed as main topics. Leading researchers in this field are encouraged to contribute to this Topic, providing their expert opinion on the current state of the field and its future directions, making this article collection a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals.
Keywords: neuroendocrine neoplasms, radioligand therapies, positron emission tomography, somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS), 68Ga -Dota peptide PET/CT (SSA-PET/CT), pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL)
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