E!10610 Eurostars META-DETECT

Important results from the project

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer type in Europe, and the third most common form of cancer in Sweden. Patients with local CRC have a 5-year survival rate at 90 %, while it is only 10 % for patients with CRC metastasis. META-DETECT aim to develop a new contrast agent for multimodal imaging in order to diagnose, stage, and predict risk for relapse in CRC patients. Such development will allow personalized treatment, improved patient’s survival, and provide better quality of life. The new contrast agent for early diagnostics of CRC will benefit both the individual and the society.

Expected long term effects

We have investigated 48 nanoparticle-based contrast agents designed and prepared for multimodal imaging. Contrast agent containing superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIONs) coated with silicone dioxide showed excellent contrast properties for magnetic resonance (MRI) and photoacoustics (PA) imaging. The contrast property of SPIONs were preserved after conjugation with single chain antibodies targeting CRC. Our results indicated that the new contrast agent developed within the project has a great potential to contribute to early diagnosis of relapse in CRC patients.

Approach and implementation

During the project, we (KI) and other partners in META-DETECT consortium have completed the following: We have produced three specific Lama antibodies against CRC. We have produced 48 different constructions of nanoparticle based contrast agent for multimodal imaging. After screening, superpara magnetic iron oxide particles coated with silicone dioxide were chosen for MR- and PA- imaging. The selected contrast agent was further functionalized via conjugation with Lama antibodies against CRC The toxicity and the immunogenicity effect of the contrast agent were evaluated.