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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Contrast Ultrasound Targeted Treatment of Gliomas in Mice via Drug-Bearing Nanoparticle Delivery and Microvascular Ablation
Published on: December 15, 2010
Monitoring response to anticancer therapy by targeting microbubbles to tumor vasculature
Grzegorz Korpanty1, Juliet G Carbon, Paul A Grayburn
1Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75390-8593, USA.
Purpose:
New strategies to detect tumor angiogenesis and monitor response of tumor vasculature to therapy are needed. Contrast ultrasound imaging using microbubbles targeted to tumor endothelium offers a noninvasive method for monitoring and quantifying vascular effects of antitumor therapy. We investigated the use of targeted microbubbles to follow vascular response of therapy in a mouse model of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Experimental Design:
Microbubbles conjugated to monoclonal antibodies were used to image and quantify vascular effects of two different antitumor therapies in s.c. and orthotopic pancreatic tumors in mice. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibodies and/or gemcitabine, and the localization of microbubbles to endoglin (CD105), VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2), or VEGF-activated blood vessels (the VEGF-VEGFR complex) was monitored by contrast ultrasound.
Results:
Targeted microbubbles showed significant enhancement of tumor vasculature when compared with untargeted or control IgG-targeted microbubbles. Video intensity from targeted microbubbles correlated with the level of expression of the target (CD105, VEGFR2, or the VEGF-VEGFR complex) and with microvessel density in tumors under antiangiogenic or cytotoxic therapy.
Conclusions:
We conclude that targeted microbubbles represent a novel and attractive tool for noninvasive, vascular-targeted molecular imaging of tumor angiogenesis and for monitoring vascular effects specific to antitumor therapy in vivo.
