Real-time intraoperative image-guided cancer surgery promises to improve oncologic outcomes. Tumor-specific antibodies conjugated with near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores have demonstrated the potential to enhance visualization of solid tumor margins and metastatic disease; however, multiple challenges remain, including improvement in probe development for clinical utility. We have developed an NIR-IR800 dye on a PEGylated linker (sidewinder) conjugated to the humanized anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) antibody (M5A) with extended in vivo serum and tumor persistence. The anti-CEA M5A-sidewinder has a high dye-to-antibody ratio (average of 7 per antibody) that allows, in an orthotopic implanted human pancreatic cancer mouse model increased tumor fluorescence, higher tumor-to-background ratio and extends the surgical scheduling window compared to current antibody dye conjugates. These preclinical results demonstrate the potential of this probe for fluorescence-guided surgery of CEA-positive gastrointestinal cancers.
In proof-of-concept studies, the anti-CEA M5A-IR800 conjugate demonstrated rapid and effective near infrared (NIR) imaging of human colon cancer and pancreatic cancer primary and metastatic lesions in mouse models. A limitation observed from these studies is the antibody-dye conjugate’s rapid clearance from the blood due to the increased hydrophobicity of the IR800 dye. This is a bottleneck for clinical applications, requiring high doses to be administered and a short surgical time window for intraoperative imaging. As a result, we developed a new prototype anti-CEA-swPEG-IR800 conjugate, that incorporates a PEGylated sidearm linker to shield or mask the IR800 dye’s hydrophobicity, a novel approach to extend the blood circulation half-life and in doing so increase tumor sensitivity as well as lower normal hepatic uptake. Results of the anti-CEA-swPEG-IR800 in an orthotopic human pancreatic cancer mouse model demonstrated exceptional optical imaging at lower doses, a much longer in vivo half-life enabling increased tumor fluorescence and higher tumor to background ratios. We propose that our novel anti-CEA-swPEG-IR800 is capable of enhanced optical imaging than currently available agents and will become the next generation optical imaging agent for safe and effective intraoperative image-guided surgery in CEA expressing GI cancers.
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