Intraoperative Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping of the Lung Using Near-Infrared Fluorescent Quantum Dots

Abstract

Background-The presence of lymph node metastases is an important prognostic marker with regard to non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Assessment of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) for the presence of tumor may improve staging. Our objective was to develop an optical noninvasive imaging tool that would permit intraoperative SLN mapping and provide real-time visual feedback for image-guided localization and resection.

In vivo quantum dot labeling of mammalian stem and progenitor cells

“…QDs may possess significant advantages over current methods to label transplanted cells, which have been hampered by both safety issues (e.g., the use of engineered viruses as vectors) and the ability of cells to reliably and permanently express a given factor (e.g., the use of liposomes or naked DNA). Experiments outside of the nervous system have demonstrated that QDs may be superior in certain human diagnostic clinical applications such as the identification of tumor-positive sentinel lymph nodes (Kim et al, 2004;Soltesz et al, 2005Soltesz et al, , 2006. Our in vivo demonstration of the lack of toxicity using the developing embryo and nervous system support the further exploration of QDs as diagnostic and therapeutic tools for human disease.…”

Fluorescent tumour imaging of type I IGF receptor in vivo: comparison of antibody-conjugated quantum dots and small-molecule fluorophore

“…The recently developed cadmium telluride (Cd/Te) QDs emit fluorescence in the red and near-infrared range, which is ideal for in vivo imaging to avoid tissue auto-fluorescence. In fact, it has been applied to map sentinel lymph nodes in animal cancer models (Kim et al, 2004;Parungo et al, 2005;Soltesz et al, 2005Soltesz et al, , 2006Hama et al, 2007;Knapp et al, 2007).…”

Study on effect of peptide-conjugated near-infrared fluorescent quantum dots on the clone formation, proliferation, apoptosis, and tumorigenicity ability of human buccal squamous cell carcinoma cell line BcaCD885

“…Currently, QDs have been used in noninvasive imaging of cancerous cells to reveal the cells growth and distribution in vivo. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, the issue of whether or not QDs affect the proliferation, apoptosis and tumorigenicity ability of tumor cells has not been reported. The key issue is precisely if the results obtained from the noninvasive visualization of QDs-labeled tumors are scientific to reflect the growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and tumorigenicity ability in vivo.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] Especially, the recently developed QDs with an infrared emission wavelength between 700 and 900 nm has a powerful ability to penetrate human tissues and at the same time it can avoid the interference of tissue autofluorescence (400-600 nm), which is particularly suitable for noninvasive medical imaging. [5][6][7] Currently, QDs have been used in noninvasive imaging of tumor cells, targeting imaging of tumor neovasculature, [8][9][10][11][12] and detection of sentinel lymph nodes in live subjects through labeling tumor cells with QD, 13,14 which demonstrate that QDs have satisfactory imaging capability in vivo. The unique optical properties of QDs make them appealing as in vivo fluorophores in investigation of tumor occurrence, advances, early diagnosis, and treatment.…”

“…Recent work indicates that bioconjugated QDs are nontoxic to cells and have no effect on cells growth and differentiation in vitro. 8,15 Some studies used QDs labeled cancer cells for the noninvasive imaging of cell growth and distribution in live subject, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] which provides an important basis for the investigation of tumor occurrence, advances, early diagnosis, and treatment. However, the key issue of whether or not QDs-labeled tumor cells affect the proliferation, apoptosis, and in vivo tumorigenicity ability has not been reported.…”