# A peptide targeted fluorescence probe for precision surgery of head and neck cancer

> **NIH NIH R43** · MOLECULAR THERANOSTICS, LLC · 2024 · $294,505

## Abstract

Abstract:
The goal of this SBIR project is to develop and commercialize a targeted fluorescence dye
for intraoperative fluorescence imaging and precision surgical treatment of head and neck
cancer (HNC). Surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation is a
routine therapeutic strategy for HNC, yet locoregional recurrences occur in up to 30% of
patients due in part to minimal residual disease in the local tissues. Furthermore, many
HNC patients undergo neck dissection procedures to remove lymph nodes at-risk of or
containing metastatic tumor nodules, but up to 30% of patients exhibit occult metastases
that remain undetected until the disease has progressed. Both of these surgical strategies
are highly invasive, extracting wide surgical margins around solid tumors and regularly
affecting or removing functional tissue structures, making post-treatment patient quality of
life a significant clinical problem. Thus, a clinical challenge for complete tumor resection
during primary and metastatic HNC surgeries is highly sensitive detection of small tumors
and accurate delineation of tumor margins during surgical operations. Although some
targeted fluorescence probes are undergoing clinical development for HNC, most exhibit
large chemical structures, which requires them to be injected several hours to days prior
to surgery, and target cell surface markers, which are not always tumor-specific and
exhibit highly heterogeneous and dynamic expression. We hypothesize that a small
fluorescently-labeled peptide specific to an oncoprotein in the tumor extracellular matrix
(ECM) can be used to visualize and guide complete resection of HNC. To test this
hypothesis, we propose to synthesize and characterize a small peptide-targeted
fluorescence dye specific to the ECM oncoprotein in Aim 1, and to determine its specificity
and effectiveness for visualization and tumor margin assessment of HNC in animal models
in Aim 2. The targeted fluorescence dye can be intravenously injected or applied topically
to fluorescently stain HNC tumors to assist surgeons in identify tumors and defining tumor
boundaries for complete resection of tumor tissues. After successful demonstration of the
feasibility of the targeted imaging probe in this Phase I SBIR project, further preclinical
investigations and development will be performed in Phase II for clinical translation and
commercialization of the dye for image-guided surgery of HNC.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10922472
- **Project number:** 1R43DE033946-01
- **Recipient organization:** MOLECULAR THERANOSTICS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Christopher Hall
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $294,505
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-17 → 2026-07-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10922472

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10922472, A peptide targeted fluorescence probe for precision surgery of head and neck cancer (1R43DE033946-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10922472. Licensed CC0.

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