Current Perspectives on Clinical Use of Exosomes as a Personalized Contrast Media and Theranostics

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Precise and personalized radiology and nuclear medicine are in need of a new, biological contrast media and radionuclide. This inventive strategy is progressing due to the developing of contrast agents and radionuclides based on exosomes. The compatibility of exosomes with existing imaging modalities can accelerate incorporating these methods into clinical practice. Besides, a new generation of contrast media and radionuclides based on exosomes provides an opportunity to develop novel approaches in cancer diagnosis. Moreover, exosome-based diagnostic and therapeutic applications can open a new field in radiological departments called theranostics, combining simultaneous cancer diagnosis and therapy. ABSTRACT: An appropriate combination of biomarkers and imaging technologies will become standard practice in the future. Because the incidence of and mortality from cancers is rising, the further study of new approaches for the early detection and precise characterization of tumors is essential. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, prove to have great potential when it comes to diagnosis and targeted therapy. Due to their natural ability to pass through biological barriers, depending on their origin, EVs can accumulate at defined sites, including tumors, preferentially. This manuscript discusses the difficulties and simplicities of processing cell-derived materials, packaging diverse groups of agents in EVs, and activating the biological complex. Developing exosome-based diagnostic techniques to detect disease precisely and early as well as treat disease marks a new era of personalized radiology and nuclear medicine. As circulating drug delivery vehicles for novel therapeutic modalities, EVs offer a new platform for cancer theranostic.