A novel antibody-based approach for image-guided surgery in HNSCC

The precise delineation of tumor margins is critical for proper surgical excision of malignant tumors. Image-guided surgery is a method which can enable enhanced accuracy in intraoperative visualization of tumor borders. In the present study, we followed an antibody-based approach to generate novel tools for this emerging technology. To this end, immunization of Wistar rats with extracellular vesicles derived from cancer cells induced the production of antibodies directed against tumor antigens in the animals. This allowed the isolation of a distinct antibody in the animals‘ blood – termed OCA 17F10 – which selectively bound to various mouse and human tumor cell lines including HNSCC, but not to non-tumor cell lines, as evidenced by flow cytometry. Immunostaining and confocal microscopy further showed a selective binding of OCA 17F10 to tumors raised in an orthotopic (floor of mouth) mouse model of HNSCC (cell line SCC VII), but not to other organs of the animals. Multi-channel in vivo microscopy in a heterotopic (mouse auricle) SCC VII model additionally documented high enrichment of intravenously applied fluorescence-labeled OCA 17F10 in tumors, but not in healthy or inflamed tissues. In line with these experimental findings, immunostaining of human HNSCC tumor samples demonstrated a selective recognition of tumor cells by the antibody. Hence, we developed a novel fluorescence-labeled antibody suitable for precise tumor detection in image-guided surgery of HNSCC.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 914

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2023