Radiopharmaceuticals : Introduction to Drug Evaluation and Dose Estimation

This comprehensive overview details the process of radiopharmaceutical development, from cellular studies to animal experiments to the design and implementation of clinical trials. It compares various radiopharmaceuticals and provides guidance on dose estimation and agent selection, covering standard medical internal radiation dose (MIRD), absorbed dose method for imaging agents, in vivo methods for obtaining activity data, errors of activity estimation techniques, and phantom-based and patient-based dose estimates. Backed by examples from clinical trials, it discusses two and three dimensional estimation processes, including the use of modern hybrid scanners such as SPECT /CT and PET/CT.

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:

1. Differentiate one radiopharmaceutical (RP) from another
2. Estimate radiation doses
3. 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.