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From Theranostics to Immunotheranostics: the Concept

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Abstract

Immunotheranostics will be an important development in the future of nuclear medicine and medical oncology. It describes the synergy of theranostic procedures in nuclear medicine and immune oncology (IO) treatment. In brief, it takes advantage of molecular imaging and subsequent targeted modulation of the—in most cases immunosuppressive—tumor microenvironment (TME) by diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes. This is of high importance since only a fraction of patients receiving IO is currently being cured by this exciting therapy option. We therefore envision the concept of immunotheranostics as a powerful mean to augment the success of IO treatment in the future and thus the urgent need to further develop the interaction and joint action of nuclear medicine and medical oncology for substantially improved therapy outcome for cancer patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Department, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Bugnon 46, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Niklaus Schaefer, John O. Prior & Margret Schottelius

  2. Translational Radiopharmaceutical Science Laboratory, Lausanne University Hospital, Rue du Bugnon 25A, CH-1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Margret Schottelius

Authors
  1. Niklaus Schaefer
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  2. John O. Prior
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  3. Margret Schottelius
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Correspondence to John O. Prior.

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Niklaus Schaefer, John O. Prior, and Margret Schottelius declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Schaefer, N., Prior, J.O. & Schottelius, M. From Theranostics to Immunotheranostics: the Concept. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 54, 81–85 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-020-00639-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-020-00639-6

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