Novel Hybrid Peptide for Imaging and Treatment of Melanoma

Reference number: STC-LS-0432
Inventor(s): Y. Miao; J. Yang
For more information, contact: Jovan Heusser, M.B.A. (505-272-7908)

Patent(s)

Application(s) pending

Background

Malignant melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer and the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among young adults, being reported at an increasing incidence each year. In 2008, there were approximately 63,000 cases of malignant melanoma and 8,400 fatalities due to malignant melanoma in the United States alone. Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive cancer that has a survival period that averages 3-15 months. Unfortunately, no curative treatment exists for metastatic melanoma although early diagnosis and prompt surgical removal greatly increase the chance of survival.

Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) are attractive modalities used for non-invasive imaging of many different cancers due to their high sensitivity and spatial resolution. Although PET is commonly used for the diagnosis and staging of melanoma, the imaging probes that are used are not melanoma-specific and consequently only detect 23% of melanoma metastases smaller than 5mm. Additionally, melanoma cells that use substrates other than glucose as energy sources are virtually undetectable by these imaging probes.

Due to the high prevalence and deadly nature of melanoma as well as the multiple drawbacks associated with conventional imaging probes, it can be understood that there is a critical need to enhance the imaging and treatment for primary, metastatic, and recurrent melanomas.

Technology

The present technology describes novel non-invasive diagnostic tools/compounds which can be used to image and treat melanoma. The radio-labeled peptide probes can specifically bind to the melanocyte simulating hormone (MSH) receptors that are over-expressed on melanoma cells. Upon binding to the receptor they can be rapidly internalized and selectively deliver diagnostic or therapeutic radionuclides to melanoma tumor cells for imaging or therapy. This means that these probes can not only be used as an effective diagnostic agent of melanoma when coupled with an imaging marker, but also as an effective carrier of a pharmaceutical to treat the cancer. Ultimately this technology represents a quantum step forward in the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma, including metastatic melanoma, using non-invasive molecular imaging techniques.

Applications/Advantages

•Benefits of the probes for imaging include:
oCan be used for diagnosing melanoma
oMonitoring metastatic spread in tissues
oMonitoring a patient’s response to chemotherapy treatments, interventions, and therapies.
•Represents a clear advance to tissue biopsy, then the presently used diagnostic procedure
•These peptide probes coupled with a therapeutic agent have the ability to bind, penetrate, and treat melanoma cancer cells.
•This ability greatly enhances the therapeutic potential of many pharmaceuticals that have difficulty entering cancer cells.

Supporting Publication:
Evaluation of a Novel Arg-Gly-Asp-Conjugated α-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Hybrid Peptide for Potential Melanoma Therapy Jianquan Yang, Haixun Guo, Fabio Gallazzi, Marianne Berwick, R. Steven Padilla and Yubin Miao, Bioconjugate Chem., Vol. 20, No. 8, 2009.

Keywords

Cancer - Melanoma, Diagnostic, Radiopharmaceutical

Related Categories

• Compounds/Other Therapeutic Agents and Methods
• Diagnostic Testing