Optical molecular imaging can differentiate metastatic from benign lymph nodes in head and neck cancer

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 5044 - 10
• Main Authors: Nishio, Naoki, van den Berg, Nynke S., van Keulen, Stan, Martin, Brock A., Fakurnejad, Shayan, Teraphongphom, Nutte, Chirita, Stefania U., Oberhelman, Nicholas J., Lu, Guolan, Horton, Crista E., Kaplan, Michael J., Divi, Vasu, Colevas, A. Dimitrios, Rosenthal, Eben L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 06.11.2019; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/1; 14/34; 631/67/1536; 631/67/2321; 692/4028/546; Ablation; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Benign; Cancer; Contrast agents; Dissection; Evaluation; Female; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes; Head & neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Lymph nodes; Lymph Nodes - diagnostic imaging; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymph Nodes - surgery; Lymphatic Metastasis - diagnostic imaging; Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology; Male; Medical imaging; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Molecular Imaging - methods; Monoclonal antibodies; multidisciplinary; Optical Imaging - methods; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Solid tumors; Staining and Labeling; Targeted cancer therapy; Tumors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13076-7

Identification of lymph node (LN) metastasis is essential for staging of solid tumors, and as a result, surgeons focus on harvesting significant numbers of LNs during ablative procedures for pathological evaluation. Isolating those LNs most likely to harbor metastatic disease can allow for a more rigorous evaluation of fewer LNs. Here we evaluate the impact of a systemically injected, near-infrared fluorescently-labeled, tumor-targeting contrast agent, panitumumab-IRDye800CW, to facilitate the identification of metastatic LNs in the ex vivo setting for head and neck cancer patients. Molecular imaging demonstrates a significantly higher mean fluorescence signal in metastatic LNs compared to benign LNs in head and neck cancer patients undergoing an elective neck dissection. Molecular imaging to preselect at-risk LNs may thus allow a more rigorous examination of LNs and subsequently lead to improved prognostication than regular neck dissection. Imaging metastatic disease burden in lymph nodes is important for surgical decision making. Here, the authors use an antibody-dye conjugate to distinguish between metastatic and benign lymph nodes in head and neck cancer.