| Popis: |
The prevalence of prostate cancer and the effectiveness of early treatment of local disease motivate screening. Yet the lack of specificity for aggressive cancers results in overtreatment. This research aims to develop innovative molecular imaging for second-line analysis to differentiate patients for treatment or surveillance. Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) is overexpressed in prostate cancers and correlates with aggressive disease. Previous efforts to image PSCA expression have suffered from poor delivery. The current research aims to develop small (5-10 kDa) targeting proteins for improved extravasation and diffusion engineered to high affinity for durable tumor retention. The targeting proteins are to be engineered by directed evolution from combinatorial libraries and tested for molecular imaging in subcutaneous prostate cancer xenograft models in mice. Improving the size and affinity of PSCA ligands could transform the ability to use molecular imaging to stratify prostate cancer patients for treatment. |
