Nuclear Medicine and Biology

Nuclear Medicine and Biology publishes original research addressing all aspects of radiopharmaceutical science: synthesis, in vitro and ex vivo studies, in vivo biodistribution by dissection or imaging, radiopharmacology, radiopharmacy, and translational clinical studies of new targeted radiotracers. The importance of the target to an unmet clinical need should be the first consideration. If the synthesis of a new radiopharmaceutical is submitted without in vitro or in vivo data, then the uniqueness of the chemistry must be emphasized.

These multidisciplinary studies should validate the mechanism of localization whether the probe is based on binding to a receptor, enzyme, tumor antigen, or another well-defined target. The studies should be aimed at evaluating how the chemical and radiopharmaceutical properties affect pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, or therapeutic efficacy. Ideally, the study would address the sensitivity of the probe to changes in disease or treatment, although studies validating mechanism alone are acceptable. Radiopharmacy practice, addressing the issues of preparation, automation, quality control, dispensing, and regulations applicable to qualification and administration of radiopharmaceuticals to humans, is an important aspect of the developmental process, but only if the study has a significant impact on the field.

Contributions on the subject of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals also are appropriate provided that the specificity of labeled compound localization and therapeutic effect have been addressed.

Further Information on the Aims and Scope of Nuclear Medicine and Biology

Introduction: In keeping with the goal of translating the preclinical studies to the clinic, the introduction of your manuscript should contain the potential impact of the molecular probe on a particular disease.

Materials and Methods: Given that validation of new targeted radiotracers is a primary goal of the journal, all new chemical entities should have radiochemical yield (RCY), radiochemical purity (RCP), specific activity (SA) and effective specific activity (ESA) at a stated time. Optional information includes organic volatiles, apyrogenicity and sterility. If not commercially available, the precursor should have identity and purity reported for the molecule. All metrics listed above should have an associated average value, standard deviation and number of studies. Dual-modality studies should follow the same criteria for both probes. For small-animal images, the amount injected, the anesthesia used and the image duration should be included in the figure caption so comparisons can be easily made. Correlation with tissue dissection data is recommended. Manuscripts on pharmacy including those on automation that focus on the apparatus and the computer program should present substantially improved RCY, RCP, SA or ESA; shorter reaction time; or improved analytical techniques compared to the present state of the art. All new pharmacy approaches should be referenced as complying with standard government regulations, or biocompatibility data should be included. Radiation-absorbed dose studies in humans should contain the full data set published as supplementary data. A comparison with small-animal dosimetry data is encouraged. Nuclear Medicine and Biology is the official journal of the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences: http://www.srsweb.orghttp://www.srsweb.org.