Labeled carcinoembryonic antigen antibodies excitable by infrared rays: a novel diagnostic method for micro cancers in the digestive tract.

ABSTRACT

OBJECT An indocyanine green derivative (ICG-sulfo-OSu) was used as the labeling substance for monoclonal antibody, and a fluorescence imaging system appropriate for ICG-sulfo-OSu excitable by infrared rays (IR) was developed. The goal of this study was to demonstrate antibody labeling at the tissue level using this new imaging system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ICG-sulfo-OSu labeled mouse anti-human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) monoclonal antibody, a newly developed imaging system, and an infrared ray microscope were employed in this experiment. Paraffin sections of human colon cancer previously proven to have cross-reactivity to anti-CEA antibody were examined. RESULTS: Positive staining was seen as a brownish discoloration of oxidized 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB) in sections that reacted with ICG-sulfo-OSu-labeled anti-CEA antibody, and the fluorescence was well-matched with the oxidized DAB-positive sites. CONCLUSION: Specific antibodies labeled with ICG-sulfo-OSu have significant affinity to cancer cells and seem to reflect sufficient amounts of fluorescence by IR to be useful in a system for the endoscopic detection of micro cancers using the immunohistochemical staining method.