A new MRI contrast agent detected tiny lung tumours and hidden metastases in animal studies, potentially opening a new path towards earlier cancer diagnosis.
ATLANTA: A new MRI contrast agent has shown promise in detecting extremely small lung tumours and hidden cancer spread, raising hopes that future imaging could help doctors identify invasive lung cancer earlier without exposing patients to ionising radiation.
The experimental protein-based agent, known as hProCA32.Collagen, was developed by researchers from Georgia State University, Emory University and collaborating institutions. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.
Importantly, the technology remains experimental. It has been evaluated in preclinical animal models and has not yet been tested or approved for routine use in patients.
How does the new MRI technology work?
Unlike conventional MRI contrast agents, the experimental agent targets collagen type I, a structural protein whose amount and organisation can change around invasive tumours.
By attaching to this collagen, the agent makes areas associated with cancer more visible during MRI scans and can provide information about biological characteristics linked to tumour invasion.
Researchers first examined samples from 15 people with lung adenocarcinoma and confirmed increased collagen around tumours and surrounding tissue. They then tested the imaging technique in several mouse models of primary and metastatic lung cancer.
In one model, the new MRI contrast agent detected all 18 lung nodules subsequently confirmed through tissue analysis, including lesions measuring less than one millimetre. CT imaging missed several of the smallest nodules.
Another model showed the technique detecting cancer in the lungs as well as small metastases in the adrenal glands and kidneys that CT did not identify. Researchers later confirmed those findings by analysing the tissue.
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Could it improve lung cancer diagnosis?
The results suggest the technology might eventually help doctors detect invasive disease and cancer spread earlier while providing additional information about how a tumour behaves.
MRI also does not use the ionising radiation involved in CT scans. However, the research does not establish that this experimental technique should replace CT screening or other established diagnostic methods.
Researchers say the ability to map changes in collagen could eventually help identify higher-risk patients, guide treatment decisions and monitor how tumours respond to therapy.
InLighta Biosciences, founded by study leader Jenny J. Yang, has licensed related intellectual property from Georgia State and is working to move the technology towards clinical development. Researchers are preparing an investigational new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration as they work towards human testing.
The new MRI contrast agent therefore represents an encouraging research advance rather than a new diagnostic test currently available to patients. Human clinical trials will be crucial in determining its safety and whether its performance translates from animal models into medical practice.
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Impact to expect
Potential. If future human trials confirm the findings, collagen-targeted MRI could eventually give doctors another tool for finding very small lung cancers and previously hidden metastases earlier.
