Early detection of metastatic UM linked to liver
Research coming from Emory Eye Center's Hans Grossniklaus's group is opening a promising new avenue for detecting early-stage metastatic uveal melanoma in the liver.
The group's findings, Non-invasive Detection and Complementary Diagnostic of Liver Metastases via Chemokine Receptor 4 Imaging
appeared in the February 10 edition of the journal Cancer Gene Therapy.
Their identification of a biomarker for liver metastases came out of the team's work with uveal melanoma (UM), an ophthalmic cancer that almost exclusively metastasizes in the liver. Researchers in this study observed elevated levels of the chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in both the liver metastases from their UM patients, and in the liver metastases of UM murine models. This led them to use a CXCR4-specific MRI contrast agent to detect small liver metastases in a mouse model. The relative simplicity of this approach may eventually offer patients a valuable option for detection and treatment.
Noninvasive detection of these early-stage liver metastases from different sources has always been a critical medical need,
said Grossniklaus.
The liver is a common site of metastases for different types of primary malignancies - not just in uveal melanoma, but in ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colon cancer. The lack of both molecular biomarkers and sensitive imaging methodology made the timely detection of liver cancer challenging.
The use of the CXCR4-specific MRI imaging contrast agent enabled early detection of small liver metastases transiting from a dormant status to an activated status in multiple metastatic murine models.
This contrast agent was developed by our colleague at Georgia State University, Jenny Yang PhD,
said Grossinklaus. She's a co-senior author of the paper, and we work closely with her to help develop these contrast agents.
The paper's authors: Hua Yang, Shanshan Tan, Jingjuan Qiao, Yiting Xu , Zongxiang Gui, Yuguang Meng , Bin Dong, Guangda Peng, Oluwatosin Y. Ibhagui , Weiping Qian, Jimmy Lu , Zezhong Li, Guimin Wang, Jinping Lai , Lily Yang, Hans Grossniklaus, and Jenny J. Yang.
-Kathleen E. Moore