In recent years, Poland has witnessed a significant increase in the number of prostate and testicular cancer diagnoses. While this trend may seem alarming, it also highlights progress in preventive measures, diagnostics, and treatments. More men are being diagnosed at early stages, improving their chances for effective treatment and recovery. 

Early detection is crucial for successful treatment and significantly increases the likelihood of a complete recovery. 

Growing public awareness of the importance of regular screening is contributing to men being more willing to use medical services, resulting in better therapeutic outcomes. 

However, if we have the misfortune and there is a need for in-depth diagnostics, medicine joins forces with chemistry and physics. 

Imaging Technologies: A Journey Inside the Body 

Imaging diagnostics are non-invasive methods that allow physicians to obtain detailed internal images of the human body. These techniques help detect organ or tissue abnormalities, including tumours, using radiation, sound waves, or magnetic fields. 

Common Imaging Methods:

Ultrasound: This method uses sound waves to create images of internal organs. Ultrasound is often employed to diagnose breast, thyroid, and abdominal cancers and in prenatal imaging.

X-rays: An older, widely recognized imaging technique useful for diagnosing cancers, fractures, and other conditions. X-rays are essential for assessing bone structure and some internal organs. 

Computed Tomography (CT): A CT scan involves taking a series of X-rays from different angles, which are then combined into a 3D image. CT scans are pivotal in determining tumor size, location, and disease progression.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): This technique uses powerful magnetic fields and radio waves to produce highly detailed images of soft tissues, making it indispensable for diagnosing brain, spinal cord, and some internal organ cancers. 

PET, or positron emission tomography: this is an advanced medical imaging method that allows doctors to ‘see’ what is going on inside our bodies at a cellular level, and more specifically allows the metabolic activity of cancer cells to be assessed. A radioactive tracer is administered to the patient, which accumulates in the cancer cells. This allows the size of the tumor, its metabolic activity, and the spread of the disease to be assessed. 

Now that we know so simply, without going into complicated mechanisms, how the tests in question work and what they consist of, let us consider in more detail where this involvement of chemistry in diagnostic tests is. 

In the description of PET, the tricky phrase ‘radioactive tracer’ appears, but there are more such helpers, which are able to exotify the studied image or, like a highlighter, indicate a specific disease area. And these little helpers are so-called cotrast agents.  

Contrast Agents: Enhancing Diagnostic Precision 

Imagine that you want to see what is at the bottom of an opaque glass. You can add a special dye to it - then what was previously invisible will become clearer. A contrast agent in imaging studies works similarly. This is a special substance that, when introduced into the body, allows doctors to obtain more detailed and clearer images of internal organs during imaging examinations. This makes it easier to diagnose various diseases, including cancer. 

Contrast agents are specialized substances introduced into the body to improve imaging clarity. They act like highlighters, pinpointing disease-affected areas during diagnostic scans. 

Applications of Contrast Agents: 

• CT scans: To evaluate internal organs, circulatory systems, and urinary systems. 

• MRI: For imaging the brain, spine, joints, and muscles. 

• X-rays: For assessing the digestive and urinary systems. 

Depending on the specific imaging method, different contrast agents are used. In X-ray-based techniques, contrast agents typically contain iodine or, less commonly, barium sulfate. These agents absorb external X-ray radiation, reducing its intensity on the detector. Simply put, contrast agents absorb radiation, resulting in darker areas on the generated images. This mechanism differs from radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine, such as in PET scans, where compounds containing radioactive elements emit radiation.