Locoregional Unsealed Radionuclide Cancer Therapy: Experimental Findings

Animal tumor models provide invaluable insights on the host-tumor relationship to understand human tumor pathology so that defense strategies can be designed and optimized. This chapter describes the experiences of locoregional radionuclide cancer therapy using small animal models of mice and rats as well as large animal models of dogs to examine the advantages and disadvantages of these tumor models. Comparison of tumor growth curves allows the choice of optimal radionuclides for LRCT. Monitoring of radionuclides in LRCT also allows the prediction of efficacy. Individual animal monitoring can be accomplished using gamma cameras, PET scanners, or optical imaging. Surprising findings of immunity from subsequent inoculation of tumors are noted in rats cured from earlier tumor by LRCT. These interesting and surprise findings and their implications are also explored.