Molecular Imaging for Personalized Medicine

This issue is devoted to molecular imaging in the context of personalized medicine. Recent advances in biology, particularly genomic and expression screens, have made it possible to hope that treatment can be matched very specifically to the patient's disease, as characterized at the molecular level. In oncology, where hopes for personalized medicine are perhaps highest, tumors will be treated based on the specific mutations that drive their unrestrained growth, rather than on their site of origin. For all branches of medicine, there is also the potential for matching drug dosage to the individual's drug metabolism profile, established through genetic analysis.