New PET radiopharmaceuticals for cancer imaging

The idea of personalized medicine has been growing in clinical research for the past decade. Molecular imaging, first introduced in 2001 as a multidisciplinary practice, is undoubtedly playing an important role in the transition of conventional medical practice. When compared to optical imaging modalities, positron emission tomography (PET) is highly sensitive and it has the ability to obtain absolute imaging quantification after corrections for photon attenuation and scattering. In addition, due to the unique feature to image 11C, 13N, or 15O labeled compounds naturally in the body, the role of PET has been well-established in the field of molecular imaging. Our aim in this article is therefore to provide an overview of the recent advances in PET radiopharmaceuticals and their clinical application in oncology.