Researchers have discovered a method that could help surgeons better distinguish cancer from healthy tissue during surgical operations. Researchers have found that folate receptor beta is widely expressed in various solid tumors in children and adolescents.
Beta folate receptors are proteins usually found on the surface of cancer cells, and targeting them helps improve the accuracy of tumor surgery, and this can be done using a fluorescent imaging agent known as “pafolacianine.”
The study was conducted by researchers from Ann and Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the United States, and its results were published in the journal Oncotarget on October 16, and the EurekAlert website wrote about it.
Pediatric cancers are often difficult to completely remove during surgery, especially when tumors have spread or formed small metastases.
Guided surgery helps surgeons better identify tumors during operations using special imaging dyes, but commonly used dyes, such as indocyanine green, are not tumor-specific and rely on general features of vascular permeability, which limits their accuracy.
In this study, scientists investigated the potential of bavolocyanin, a dye that targets folate receptors, for use in pediatrics.
New generation dye
Bavolacyanin has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for adults with ovarian and lung cancer due to its ability to bind to these receptors and highlight tumors during surgery.
The research team analyzed tissue samples from 13 young patients diagnosed with different types of cancer, including Wilms’ tumor, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, and neuroblastoma.
The results revealed a significant absence of the folate receptor alpha, while the folate receptor beta was present in all tumor samples.
Folate beta receptors were expressed on both tumor cells and the surrounding environment, but showed little expression in normal tissue, making them an excellent candidate for targeted imaging.
Previous studies have mainly linked folate beta receptors to immune cells called “tumor-associated macrophages.”
Based on these results, the team launched a trial to evaluate bavolacyanin in children undergoing surgery for metastatic lung tumors. If successful, this method could make pediatric cancer surgery safer and more effective.