Transition Metal Complexes As MRI Contrast Agents in Cancer Therapy

Cancer is an extremely Dreadful Disease and any practical solution in combating this disease is of paramount importance to public health. Metals are essential elements for the growth and development of all living organisms, but improper regulation of metal ion stores is also connected to acute and long-term diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. Likewise, the unique chemical properties of metals and other elements across the periodic table can be exploited for human benefit through the development of novel therapeutics and diagnostics. An emerging intersection between metals in biology and metals in medicine is molecular imaging, which uses chemistry to visualize living biological systems from the molecule to cell to tissue to organism level. In this regard, a particularly powerful, clinically-used modality for molecular imaging is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a technique that offers the ability to capture three-dimensional images of living specimens with exquisite anatomical resolution.