Hybrid PET/MR has demonstrated its potential in cardiac imaging thanks to its superior tissue contrast and ability to deliver multimodal quantitative imaging parameters; however, technical and financial hurdles remain, according to a review article published in the March issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Vanderbilt University has partnered with GE Global Research to secure a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant help define how colon tumors form and develop at the cellular level.

Although enthusiasm for new molecularly targeted therapies runs high, pediatric oncologists should proceed with caution in treating children, as these agents may be associated with unanticipated and undesirable side effects, according to a review published in the February issue of The Lancet Oncology.

PET with 11C-PIB provides a noninvasive method for visualizing amyloid deposits in the heart, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The researchers suggest that 11C-PIB eventually may be used in the clinical setting as both a diagnostic tool and a treatment follow-up method.

Diffusion abnormality index has emerged as a potential biomarker to measure brain tumor response to radiation therapy (RT), according to research presented at the 2013 Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium Feb. 9 in Orlando, Fla. The symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology and the Radiological Society of North America.

In-room PET scanning during proton therapy is feasible for monitoring treatment ranges and helps overcome logistical issues inherent with transporting a patient to a PET scanner outside the treatment room, according to a small clinical trial published online Feb. 5 in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

SUVmax (maximum standardized uptake value) may provide a marker to indicate progression-free survival in Stage 1 nonsmall cell lung cancer patients treated with radiation therapy, according to research presented Feb. 9 at the 2013 Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

GE Healthcare announced two new image analysis software packages for cardiovascular MR images: CardiacVX and MR VesselIQ Xpress