Novel Medical Imaging Dye for Cancer Detection
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a novel dye for the visualization of osteosarcoma and neuroblastoma tumor tissue. The dye, developed using antibody labelling technology, contains two key systems in a single unit to allow for identification of both the location and depth of tumors.
Description
Surgical treatment of cancer is required in more than half of cancer patients. Surgical success is often the most important factor in long-term outcomes for patients. However, as many as 40% of surgeries leave behind some residual disease (incomplete resection), and it is vital to improve visualization of tumors to improve complete resection rates. This novel approach uses antibody labelling technology to target tumors which includes an optical dye for increased tumor visibility in medical imaging, and a radionucleotide radioisotope to detect tumor thickness (depth). Improving visualization of tumors should improve resection rates and increase patient outcomes.Applications
• Neuroblastoma• Osteosarcoma
• Improving surgical resection rates across all solid tumors
• Detection of metastasis
Advantages
Visual inspection and manual palpation are still the most widely used method of identifying cancerous tissue for removal – the same approach as has been used for over 200 years. Previous attempts to use near-infrared fluorescence (NIR) dye showed that this is not a cancer specific approach with limitations in detecting deeper tumors which may be obscured by surrounding tissue.This novel dye labels a GD2 antibody with an NIR dye and a radioisotope. Neuroblastoma and osteosarcoma, two cancers where complete resection is vital to patient survival, both overexpress GD2. This approach will allow for detection of these cancers using two methods; gamma ray detection using a handheld probe, and visualization of tumors by the optical dye to distinguish tumors from healthy surrounding tissue.