ABSTRACT
The eld of theranostics (a portmanteau of “therapeutics” and “diagnostics”) aims to integrate therapeutics with diagnosis, in order to develop more individualized therapies. Life-threatening diseases, particularly high-risk cancers, are highly heterogeneous, so that treatments are typically effective for only limited patient populations and at certain stages of disease development. Merging of the paradigms of diagnosis and therapy will provide timely assessment of therapeutic response, allowing optimization of treatments and tailoring personalized medicine based on individual needs, to improve therapeutic outcomes. A current clinical example is the use of Herceptin® (a monoclonal antibody used to treat patients with breast cancer), which is used in conjunction with the diagnostic tool, HercepTest®. Herceptin® targets the HER2 protein, which is overexpressed in approximately one-third of breast cancers. HercepTest™ specically demonstrates overexpression of the HER2 protein in breast cancer tissues and so is used to identify those patients who are most likely to benet from Herceptin® treatment.
