Researchers at the University of Missouri are developing a new way to determine which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from targeted therapy by irradiating tumors with medical scans.
Barry Edwards, an associate professor of biochemistry at the School of Medicine, recently designed a very small antibody that looks for EphA2, a protein frequently present in cancer tumors. After creating the antibodies, they attached radioactive markers to visualize the molecules during positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
Antibody “flashlight” illuminates cancer tumors
In experiments with mice, Dr. Edwards showed that this cancer-detecting “flashlight” clearly illuminates tumors that produce EphA2. The results suggest that tagging antibodies could help doctors detect cancers that contain the protein and determine which patients will respond to treatments designed to target EphA2-positive tumor cells without harming healthy tissue.
“By looking at which patients have high or low levels of EphA2, we can determine who is most likely to benefit from targeted cancer treatments,” said Professor Edwards, who also holds a College of Arts and Sciences appointment. “There’s no point in giving patients a treatment that doesn’t work, so this new process we’ve created saves time and money while advancing precision medicine.”
Faster and less invasive than traditional methods
Currently, doctors rely on biopsies and MRI scans to evaluate tumors in cancer patients. These methods are invasive, time-consuming, and often provide limited insight into the specific proteins found within cancer cells. Edwards, who uses advanced imaging techniques in his research at Mizzou’s Center for Molecular Imaging and Theranostics, hopes to advance the technology from preclinical research to human clinical trials within the next seven years.
“This new targeted approach is non-invasive and allows imaging results to be obtained in hours rather than days, which is a huge benefit for patients traveling long distances for treatment,” Edwards said. “It shows that precision medicine is a win-win by making the process easier and faster for both patients and clinicians.”
The study was titled “Preclinical evaluation of anti-EphA2 minibody-based immunoPET agents as diagnostic tools for cancer.” Molecular imaging and biology.
