Multimodality Imaging of Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is an important biological process that is also related to various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Currently, the need for angiogenesis imaging is increasing due to the use of anti-angiogenic therapy to treat tumors, and of angiogenesis-inducing therapy to treat vascular diseases. Several techniques can be used to visualize angiogenesis related parameters at the structural, functional, and molecular level, although clinically, most techniques involve structural or functional imaging. However, structural and functional parameters do not completely represent angiogenic activity, because they evaluate angiogenesis indirectly by measuring structural and functional changes. Molecular imaging techniques can be used to evaluate bio-markers directly related to angiogenesis, but have only recently been applied in clinical practice. It is now evident that assessment of angiogenesis at several different levels provides valuable information which could be used to individualize therapy and improve diagnosis.