Theranostic Applications of Neurotensin

Abstract

Targeted theranostics is increasingly attractive in the cancer field to reduce off-target effects and provide rapid diagnosis. Neurotensin (NT) and its derivatives target neuortensin receptor 1 (NTS1) which has strong, selective, aberrant expression in certain tumour cells. This commentary briefly describes the advantages of targeting using the NT/NTS1 pairing and discusses a recent article on Theranostic Value of Multimers: Lessons Learned from Trimerization of Neurotensin Receptor Ligands and Other Targeting Vectors that questions the relevance of in vitro studies with these theranostics to in vivo applications. This remains an area of great interest and the rational design of targeting molecules with high in vivo efficacy is a key goal of the field.