Positron emission tomography imaging sheds new light on hypoxia and antitumor therapies

The effect of the hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME) on the effectiveness of cancer treatments has received widespread attention. It is crucial to investigate the mechanisms by which hypoxia influences the efficacy of these treatments in order to improve the therapeutic outcomes for malignant tumors and the prognoses of patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a non-invasive, reproducible, and quantitative imaging technique that can visualize molecular biological changes in vivo. By utilizing specific PET probes, it is possible to both depict in vivo oxygen levels within the TME and evaluate cancer treatment effectiveness at various targets. This review summarizes the effect of hypoxia on various cancer treatments and examines the role of PET imaging in understanding the mechanisms of hypoxia during and after cancer treatments. It is anticipated that this review will provide new insights for improving tumor therapy from the hypoxia perspective and for early prediction and assessment of therapeutic efficacy via PET imaging. The relationship between hypoxia and the effectiveness of anti-tumor therapies has been receiving increasing attention, but the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood. One possible way to investigate this is through the use of PET imaging, which allows for monitoring of both the hypoxic state of the tumor microenvironment and the effectiveness of anti-tumor therapies, making it a valuable tool for exploring the impact of hypoxia on cancer theranostics. image