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Introduction: Radiopharmaceuticals Play an Important Role in Both Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine

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Radiopharmaceuticals for Therapy

Abstract

The goal of Radiopharmaceuticals for Therapy is to discuss the applications of particle-emitting radioisotopes attached to tissue-targeting radiopharmaceutical agents for use as unsealed therapeutic sources. This book is not meant to represent a compendium of the extensive therapeutic options available using unsealed radioisotopic sources, but instead primarily focuses on current and developing new therapeutic strategies for applications in nuclear medicine, oncology, and interventional specialties. Examples of disease processes are discussed which can benefit from treatment with radiopharmaceuticals and those clinical indications when the use of therapeutic radioisotopes offers a unique opportunity for treatment. This book is focused on therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals which have been recently developed and have entered the clinical routine and new promising and attractive technologies and agents for therapy of cancer and chronic conditions. This chapter provides a brief introduction of the general principles of radiopharmaceutical applications as unsealed sources for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. These introductory comments on the use of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine set the stage for subsequent more detailed discussion of specific therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals in subsequent chapters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Security and Isotope Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, OAK RIDGE, USA

    F. F. (Russ) Knapp

  2. Isotope Production and Applications Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India

    Ashutosh Dash

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Knapp, F.F.(., Dash, A. (2016). Introduction: Radiopharmaceuticals Play an Important Role in Both Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine. In: Radiopharmaceuticals for Therapy . Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2607-9_1

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