Flourescent biotechnology for high lighting solid cancer for more complete surgical removal
by noreply@blogger.com (brian wang) from NextBigFuture.com on (#2DCAZ)
With five U.S. patents issued and dozens more filed and pending around the world, On Target Laboratories LLC is working to advance its revolutionary fluorescent imaging technology that could help surgeons pinpoint and remove more cancerous tissues than has ever been possible while preserving more healthy tissue for patients.
Headquartered at Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, the company is developing a series of molecules, which, when administered intravenously, show promise in targeting many types of cancer cells, said Dr. Sumith Kularatne, On Target's vice president of research and development.
"In addition to our current U.S. patents, we have 11 more either filed or pending in the U.S.," Kularatne said. "We have another 33 patents pending worldwide. These patents are very important in helping us move our discoveries to the public where they can help people."
These molecules carry a fluorescent dye and target diseased cells, including cancer, enabling surgeons to better diagnose and remove the disease while avoiding collateral damage to healthy tissue such as nerves.
Currently, surgery is a primary treatment modality for a large number of solid cancers, and published literature shows that for many of these the initial cytoreduction (tumor debulking) has a significant impact on patient outcomes. Surgeons must rely primarily on their visual and tactile senses, aided at times by static pre-operative images, to excise the cancer.
OTL38 is a novel compound consisting of a folic acid-targeting molecule, or ligand, linked to a near-infrared dye. Following current clinical trial protocols, OTL38 is injected two hours before surgery and is intended to bind to diseased tissue, including several cancers, involving lung, ovarian, and renal. The goal of this technology is to allow the surgeon to see hard-to-detect, small cancer lesions or diseased lymph nodes that might otherwise be missed through the use of a NIR (near-infrared) camera. OTL ligands are designed to enhance the view in real time, and if proven successful, we believe may be an important addition to image-guided surgery.
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Headquartered at Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, the company is developing a series of molecules, which, when administered intravenously, show promise in targeting many types of cancer cells, said Dr. Sumith Kularatne, On Target's vice president of research and development.
"In addition to our current U.S. patents, we have 11 more either filed or pending in the U.S.," Kularatne said. "We have another 33 patents pending worldwide. These patents are very important in helping us move our discoveries to the public where they can help people."
These molecules carry a fluorescent dye and target diseased cells, including cancer, enabling surgeons to better diagnose and remove the disease while avoiding collateral damage to healthy tissue such as nerves.
Currently, surgery is a primary treatment modality for a large number of solid cancers, and published literature shows that for many of these the initial cytoreduction (tumor debulking) has a significant impact on patient outcomes. Surgeons must rely primarily on their visual and tactile senses, aided at times by static pre-operative images, to excise the cancer.
OTL38 is a novel compound consisting of a folic acid-targeting molecule, or ligand, linked to a near-infrared dye. Following current clinical trial protocols, OTL38 is injected two hours before surgery and is intended to bind to diseased tissue, including several cancers, involving lung, ovarian, and renal. The goal of this technology is to allow the surgeon to see hard-to-detect, small cancer lesions or diseased lymph nodes that might otherwise be missed through the use of a NIR (near-infrared) camera. OTL ligands are designed to enhance the view in real time, and if proven successful, we believe may be an important addition to image-guided surgery.
Read more