promising results in the assessment of HER2 status in vivo. As every imaging
modality has its advantages and limitations, their combination in a multimodality
imaging approach may result in an additional breakthrough regarding in vivo
applications of the molecular imaging. This individualized approach to cancer
treatment will facilitate diagnosis and treatment of breast cancers. Many drugs
demonstrate inefficiency in clinical trials after being successful in preclinical
experiments and in limited human trials. That could be explained with different
genetic profile and gene expression in patients with similar clinical phenotypes.
Individual approach is expected to have a major health management impact in
preventive medicine, in personalized diagnosis of disease, and in therapeutic
decisions targeting specific alterations.^7 Imaging plays a critical role in all aspects
of personalized medicine. Radiologists need to be prepared for this new paradigm,
changing their training, research, and clinical practice. The Research Committee of
the European Society of Radiology considers it of crucial strategic importance to
define and describe how medical imaging benefits from and contributes to overall
conceptual framework of personalized medicine.^8 The main goal of modern imag-
ing is to detect a disease at the earliest possible time, before clinical symptoms
occur. Powerful new technologies are indispensable to accomplish this task. A
tremendous development of medical imaging in the past three decades has contrib-
uted to a personalized approach in radiology. Cross-sectional imaging with excel-
lent spatial, contrast, and temporal resolutions provides a variety of very important
information, including morphology and function, from multiplanar sections and
volumetric measurements to the assessment of perfusion, metabolism, or neuronal
pathways. Hybrid imaging modalities simultaneously measure and quantify bio-
logical processes and obtain anatomical details fusing it into comprehensive func-
tional and morphological diagnostic data. Clinical phenotyping is emerging as an
important challenge for rapidly developing imaging modalities. Reliable clinical
phenotyping helps in finding gene mutations by aggregating subjects into groups
with higher probabilities of having common genotypes.^9 Diagnostic and interven-
tional radiology refers to the individual examinee with his or her unique genetic
profile. Consequently, standardized protocols should be tailored to the patient’s
specific clinical course and response to therapy. Ideally, comprehensive informa-
tion about the individual genome will be available to physicians in the future to
select the best specific diagnostic and therapeutic methods for treating the patient
and for lifestyle and/or wellness counselling.^10 The term “personalized medicine”
reflects the concept of tailoring medical care in accordance with detectable genetic
differences between patients.^11 This concept essentially means delivering the right
treatment to the right patient at the right time, but we should not forget the right
(^7) European Society of Radiology ( 2011 ).
(^8) European Society of Radiology ( 2011 ).
(^9) Thrall ( 2004 ).
(^10) Thrall ( 2004 ).
(^11) Nevins et al. ( 2003 ).
The Role of Radiology in Personalized Medicine 221