Issue 4, 2017

Targeting fibronectin for cancer imaging and therapy

Abstract

During cancer progression, the extracellular matrix (ECM) undergoes dramatic changes, which promote cancer cell migration and invasion. In the remodeled tumor ECM, the fibronectin (FN) level is upregulated to assist tumor growth, progression, and invasion. FN serves as a central organizer of ECM molecules and mediates the crosstalk between the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells. Its upregulation is correlated with angiogenesis, cancer progression, metastasis, and drug resistance. A number of FN-targeting ligands have been developed for cancer imaging and therapy. Thus far, FN-targeting imaging agents have been tested for nuclear imaging, MRI, and fluorescence imaging, and for tumor detection and localization. FN-targeting therapeutics, including nuclear medicine, chemotherapy drugs, cytokines, and photothermal moieties, were also developed for cancer therapy. Because of the prevalence of FN overexpression in cancer, FN targeting imaging agents and therapeutics have the promise of broad applications in the diagnosis, treatment, and image-guided interventions of many types of cancers. This review will summarize the current understanding of the role of FN in cancer, discuss the design and development of FN-targeting agents, and highlight the applications of these FN-targeting agents in cancer imaging and therapy.

Graphical abstract: Targeting fibronectin for cancer imaging and therapy

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
09 août 2016
Accepted
30 nov. 2016
First published
01 déc. 2016

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 639-654

Targeting fibronectin for cancer imaging and therapy

Z. Han and Z. Lu, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 639 DOI: 10.1039/C6TB02008A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements