There is an enormous sense of excitement in the communities of cancer research and cancer care as we move into the middle third of the ?rst decade of the 21st century. For the ?rst time, there is a true sense of c- ?dence that the tools provided by the human genome project will enable cancer researchers to crack the code of genomic abnormalities that allow tumor cells to live within the body and provide highly speci?c, virtually non-toxic therapies for the eradication, or at least ?rm control of human cancers. There is also good reason to hope that these same lines of inquiry will yield better tests for screening, early detection, and prev- tion of progression beyond curability. While these developments provide a legitimate basis for much op- mism, many patients will continue to develop cancers and suffer from their debilitating effects, even as research moves ahead. For these in- viduals, it is imperative that the cancer ?eld make the best possible use of the tools available to provide present day cancer patients with the best chances for cure, effective palliation, or, at the very least, relief from symptoms caused by acute intercurrent complications of cancer. A modality that has emerged as a very useful approach to at least some of these goals is tumor ablation by the use of physical or physiochemical approache

The value of ultrasound contrast agents (USCA) in clinical practice depends on the pharmacokinetics, the signal processing, and the contrast-specific imaging modalities. USCA are exogenous non-toxic substances smaller than red blood cells, which after intravenous administration must be stable enough to pass through the pulmonary capillary bed and enter the blood pool producing the necessary contrast enhancement for the duration of the examination. Recently, second-generation agents, such as SonoVue (Bracco Imaging SpA, Milan, Italy), have been introduced into the market. These agents, taking advantage of the stability of their microbubbles, withstand the acoustic pressure of insonation much better than previous USCA, resulting in an increased half-life of the agent and thus in a prolonged diagnostic window. These agents are blood pool agents that remain in the intravascular compartment and do not leak into the organ tissue. Therefore, they are used to - crease the Doppler signal amplitude during their dynamic vascular phase. Concomitant with the improvement of contrast agents, d- ferent contrast-specific imaging modalities have been developed which, used in combination with USCA and a low mechanical - dex (MI), allow continuous real-time grey-scale imaging. These - cent technical improvements have opened new possibilities in the use of USCA in a variety of indications, as shown in the contributions contained in this book. In the following chapters, some of the most distinguished users of second-generation USCA will share their knowledge and experience. The first contributor is Dr. Thomas Albrecht, Department of - diology, University Hospital of Be

There is an enormous sense of excitement in the communities of cancer research and cancer care as we move into the middle third of the ?rst decade of the 21st century. For the ?rst time, there is a true sense of c- ?dence that the tools provided by the human genome project will enable cancer researchers to crack the code of genomic abnormalities that allow tumor cells to live within the body and provide highly speci?c, virtually non-toxic therapies for the eradication, or at least ?rm control of human cancers. There is also good reason to hope that these same lines of inquiry will yield better tests for screening, early detection, and prev- tion of progression beyond curability. While these developments provide a legitimate basis for much op- mism, many patients will continue to develop cancers and suffer from their debilitating effects, even as research moves ahead. For these in- viduals, it is imperative that the cancer ?eld make the best possible use of the tools available to provide present day cancer patients with the best chances for cure, effective palliation, or, at the very least, relief from symptoms caused by acute intercurrent complications of cancer. A modality that has emerged as a very useful approach to at least some of these goals is tumor ablation by the use of physical or physiochemical approache