Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Contrast Media Mol Imaging. 2017 Jun 20;2017:2709547. doi: 10.1155/2017/2709547. eCollection 2017.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common and severe cancer with low survival rate in advanced stages. Noninvasive imaging of prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers could provide valuable information for planning and monitoring of the different therapy options. Thus, there is a major interest in development of new tracers towards cancer-specific molecular targets to improve diagnostic imaging and treatment. CD44v6, an oncogenic variant of the cell surface molecule CD44, is a promising molecular target since it exhibits a unique expression pattern in HNSCC and is associated with drug- and radio-resistance. In this review we summarize results from preclinical and clinical investigations of radiolabeled anti-CD44v6 antibody-based tracers: full-length antibodies, Fab, F(ab') fragments, and scFvs with particular focus on the engineering of various antibody formats and choice of radiolabel for the use as molecular imaging agents in HNSCC. We conclude that the current evidence points to CD44v6 imaging being a promising approach for providing more specific and sensitive diagnostic tools, leading to customized treatment decisions and functional diagnosis. Improved imaging tools hold promise to enable more effective treatment for head and neck cancer patients.
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是一种常见且严重的癌症，晚期患者的生存率较低。对预后和治疗生物标志物进行非侵入性成像可以为不同治疗选择的规划和监测提供有价值的信息。因此，人们对开发针对癌症特异性分子靶标的新型示踪剂以改善诊断成像和治疗有着浓厚的兴趣。CD44v6 是细胞表面分子 CD44 的致癌变体，是一种很有前途的分子靶标，因为它在 HNSCC 中表现出独特的表达模式，并且与药物和放射抗性有关。在这篇综述中，我们总结了放射性标记的抗 CD44v6 抗体基示踪剂的临床前和临床研究结果：全长抗体、Fab、F(ab')片段和 scFv，特别关注各种抗体形式的工程设计和放射性标记物的选择，作为 HNSCC 中的分子成像剂。我们得出的结论是，目前的证据表明 CD44v6 成像可能是提供更特异和敏感的诊断工具的一种很有前途的方法，从而能够做出针对患者的个体化治疗决策和功能性诊断。改进的成像工具有望为头颈部癌症患者提供更有效的治疗。
