Gold Nanoparticles and Nanorods in Nuclear Medicine: A Mini Review

In the last decade, many innovative nanodrugs have been developed, as well as many nanoradiocompounds that show amazing features in nuclear imaging and/or radiometabolic therapy. Their potential uses offer a wide range of possibilities. It can be possible to develop nondimensional systems of existing radiopharmaceuticals or build engineered systems that combine a nanoparticle with the radiopharmaceutical, a tracer, and a target molecule, and still develop selective nanodetection systems. This review focuses on recent advances regarding the use of gold nanoparticles and nanorods in nuclear medicine. The up-to-date advancements will be shown concerning preparations with special attention on the dimensions and functionalizations that are most used to attain an enhanced performance of gold engineered nanomaterials. Many ideas are offered regarding recent in vitro and in vivo studies. Finally, the recent clinical trials and applications are discussed.

Incidental nodal metastasis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in neck dissection specimens from head and neck cancer patients

Background:Occult differentiated thyroid carcinomas are not uncommon. The initial presentation of a thyroid carcinoma is often detection of a metastatic cervical lymph node.Methods:A retrospective review was performed of the medical records of 304 patients who underwent neck dissection between 1996 and 2008 for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.Results:Ten patients (3.3 per cent) had nodal metastasis originating from papillary thyroid cancer. All of these patients underwent thyroidectomy and post-operative 131iodine radiometabolic therapy. No patient developed a thyroid tumour after surgery.Conclusion:Despite its metastatic spread, thyroid cancer does not affect the overall prognosis of patients who are already being treated for a more aggressive malignancy. However, in otherwise healthy patients, it is worth treating this second malignancy to avoid potential complications related to local disease or metastatic thyroid cancer.