Because of peptide receptors overexpression in many of the human tumors, the peptide receptors would be an attractive target for diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy. Accordingly, peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals were designed to bind to these receptors and be able to pursue their goals. Wide range of bifunctional chelating agents (BFCA) can be used for the convenient radiolabeling of bioactive peptides with different radionuclides. These advantages have led to producing a wide variety of peptide radiopharmaceuticals. A number of these peptides, such as bombesin, somatostatin, neurotensin, cholecystokinin/gastrin and vasoactive intestinal peptide have been able to have clinical applications in nuclear oncology. In this article we have tried to have an overview of peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals.

Keywords: Peptide Radiopharmaceutical, 99mtc-labeling, Receptor-Binding Peptides, Tumor Targeting

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