Au Giang H T, Shih Wan Y, Shih Wei-Heng, Mejias Linette, Swami Vanlila K, Wasko Kimberly, Brooks Ari D
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Int J Surg Oncol. 2012;2012:861257. doi: 10.1155/2012/861257. Epub 2012 Dec 24.
Positive margins have been a critical issue that hinders the success of breast- conserving surgery. The incidence of positive margins is estimated to range from 20% to as high as 60%. Currently, there is no effective intraoperative method for margin assessment. It would be desirable if there is a rapid and reliable breast cancer margin assessment tool in the operating room so that further surgery can be continued if necessary to reduce re-excision rate. In this study, we seek to develop a sensitive and specific molecular probe to help surgeons assess if the surgical margin is clean. The molecular probe consists of the unique aqueous quantum dots developed in our laboratory conjugated with antibodies specific to breast cancer markers such as Tn-antigen. Excised tumors from tumor-bearing nude mice were used to demonstrate the method. AQD-Tn mAb probe proved to be sensitive and specific to identify cancer area quantitatively without being affected by the heterogeneity of the tissue. The integrity of the surgical specimen was not affected by the AQD treatment. Furthermore, AQD-Tn mAb method could determine margin status within 30 minutes of tumor excision, indicating its potential as an accurate intraoperative margin assessment method.
切缘阳性一直是阻碍保乳手术成功的关键问题。切缘阳性的发生率估计在20%至高达60%之间。目前，尚无有效的术中切缘评估方法。如果在手术室中有快速且可靠的乳腺癌切缘评估工具，以便在必要时能够继续进行进一步手术以降低再次切除率，那将是很理想的。在本研究中，我们试图开发一种灵敏且特异的分子探针，以帮助外科医生评估手术切缘是否干净。该分子探针由我们实验室开发的独特的水溶性量子点与针对乳腺癌标志物（如Tn抗原）的特异性抗体偶联而成。使用荷瘤裸鼠的切除肿瘤来验证该方法。AQD-Tn单克隆抗体探针被证明对定量识别癌区灵敏且特异，不受组织异质性的影响。AQD处理不会影响手术标本的完整性。此外，AQD-Tn单克隆抗体方法可在肿瘤切除后30分钟内确定切缘状态，表明其作为一种准确的术中切缘评估方法的潜力。
