News Release

Treatment with Alk5 inhibitor improves tumor uptake of imaging agents

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JCI Journals

Imaging probes that specifically target tumors can provide more sensitive and relevant information about the tumor compared to conventional, non-specific probes. Additionally, targeted probes can improve tumor detection, characterization, therapy stratification, and enhance selective delivery of anti-cancer drugs. A major limitation to the clinical use of such agents is their large size, which restricts their delivery to the tumor. Further, many tumors are characterized by altered permeability of tumor-associated blood vessels and increased fluid pressure within the tumors themselves, both of which prevent uptake of imaging agents. In this issue of JCI Insight, Heike Daldrup-Link of Stanford University and colleagues demonstrate that pre-treatment with an activin-like kinase 5 (Alk5) inhibitor enhances tumor-specific delivery of the contrast agent ferumoxytol. Their findings indicate that Alk5 inhibitors could be used to improve tumor imaging to facilitate diagnosis and treatment of solid tumors.

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TITLE:

Alk5 inhibition increases delivery of macromolecular and protein-bound contrast agents to tumors

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Heike Daldrup-Link
Stanford University
Email: heiked@stanford.edu

View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/85608?key=e2dccd8bbada667a442a

JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org.


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