Comparison of a chimeric anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibody conjugated with visible or near-infrared fluorescent dyes for imaging pancreatic cancer in orthotopic nude mouse models.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a set of visible and near-infrared dyes conjugated to a tumor-specific chimeric antibody for high-resolution tumor imaging in orthotopic models of pancreatic cancer. BxPC-3 human pancreatic cancer was orthotopically implanted into pancreata of nude mice. Mice received a single intravenous injection of a chimeric anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibody conjugated to one of the following fluorophores: 488-nm group (Alexa Fluor 488 or DyLight 488); 550-nm group (Alexa Fluor 555 or DyLight 550); 650-nm group (Alexa Fluor 660 or DyLight 650), or the 750-nm group (Alexa Fluor 750 or DyLight 755). After 24 h, the Olympus OV100 small-animal imaging system was used for noninvasive and intravital fluorescence imaging of mice. Dyes were compared with respect to depth of imaging, resolution, tumor-to-background ratio (TBR), photobleaching, and hemoglobin quenching. The longer wavelength dyes had increased depth of penetration and ability to detect the smallest tumor deposits and provided the highest TBRs, resistance to hemoglobin quenching, and specificity. The shorter wavelength dyes were more photostable. This study showed unique advantages of each dye for specific cancer imaging in a clinically relevant orthotopic model.