Chaohsiung Hsu1, Zhao Li1, Ryan Quiroz1, Raymond Ngo1, and Yung-Ya Lin1
Early detection of pancreatic cancers using enhanced MRI techniques increases not only the
treatment options available, but also the patients’ survival rate. This can be
achieved with antibody-conjugated superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)
nanoparticles capable of binding to early stage pancreatic cancer cells to
improve imaging specificity and innovation methods that can sensitively detect
SPIO to improve imaging sensitivity. The enhanced contrast from SPIO can then be used to visually
assess the distribution and magnitude of SPIO-targeted tumor cells. In vivo subcutaneous and orthotopic xenografts
mouse models validated the superior
contrast/sensitivity and robustness of this approach towards early pancreatic cancers detection.