Multimodality tumor imaging targeting integrin alphavbeta3.

The cell adhesion molecule integrin alphavbeta3 is an important player in the process of tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Antibodies, peptides, peptidomimetics, and small molecule antagonists against integrin alphavbeta3 have been shown to induce endothelial apoptosis, to inhibit tumor angiogenesis, and to increase endothelial permeability. The ability to quantitatively image integrin alphavbeta3 expression in vivo in a noninvasive manner may shed new light into the mechanism of angiogenesis and antiangiogenic treatment efficacy based on integrin antagonism. Tumor integrin expression imaging will also aid in lesion detection, patient stratification, new anti-integrin drug development/validation, as well as treatment monitoring and optimization. This review summarizes the recent advances in multimodality imaging of tumor integrin alphavbeta3 expression using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET).