This book is based on an international symposium on PET and molecular imaging ‘Perspectives on Nuclear Medicine for Molecular Diagnosis and Integrated Therapy’ held in 2015 in Japan. The book is an edited account of the most important contributions including lectures and discussions that benefited from the participation of almost one hundred professionals with different expertise, working in leading Institutions from many countries, with a predominance of Japanese scientists. The editors are Yuji Kuge, Professor, Central Institute of Isotope Science, Tohru Shiga, Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear Medicine, and Nagara Tamaki, Professor, Department of Nuclear Medicine, all working at the Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University.

The book is divided into five parts. The first, devoted to instrumentation and data analysis, mainly concerns data obtainable in nuclear cardiology and neurology. The second part analyses the latest proposals concerning the development of new biomarkers for both SPECT and PET. New radiopharmaceuticals useful for molecular therapy are also discussed. The last three parts are specifically dedicated to cardiology, neurology and oncology.

The most important aspect of this book is that it is an edited version of a recent high-level meeting. This means that the book is not representative of the whole field of nuclear medicine for molecular diagnosis and integrated therapy. However, the book is very stimulating because the chapters are based on lectures by internationally recognized experts making it different and original with respect to books not written as proceedings. The book provides information and hypotheses not easily found elsewhere, that are critically evaluated and enriched through interactive discussions with the participants.

The text is a valuable, simple but detailed update for all professionals interested in the field. A major stimulus to its acquisition is that this is an open-access book that can be downloaded free via link.springer.com.