ABSTRACT
A better understanding of carcinogenesis and tumor responsiveness to various anticancer therapies highlighted the importance of programmed cell death also called apoptosis. The externalization of phosphatidylserine from the inner leaflet to the outer leaflet of membrane cells undergoing programmed cell death has been used as a molecular target for the in vivo imaging of apoptosis. In oncology patients scheduled for conventional or new therapies, the imaging of apoptosis may be of particular clinical value for evaluating “the apoptotic reserve” in terms of spontaneous and induced apoptosis. The merging of radiolabeled annexin A5 as a potential apoptosis tracer has raised considerable hopes for the noninvasive imaging of cell death. Although the radiolabeled annexin A5 is in the process of clinical validation, the imaging of apoptosis by means of a noninvasive scintigraphy opens promising avenues for the assessment of treated and untreated cancers.
