Trial reportOncotarget2016
Intraoperative imaging of folate receptor alpha positive ovarian and breast cancer using the tumor specific agent EC17.
Trial report in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Diagnostic accuracy and surgical outcomes of fluorescence-guided surgery in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of surgical oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Application of fluorescent tracers in ovarian cancer surgical navigation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of surgical oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Fluorescence guided surgery imaging systems for breast cancer identification: a systematic review.Journal of biomedical optics · 2024Pooled it
- Oncologic Procedures Amenable to Fluorescence-guided Surgery.Annals of surgery · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Phase III Study of Pafolacianine Injection (OTL38) for Intraoperative Imaging of Folate Receptor-Positive Ovarian Cancer (Study 006).Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2023Trial
- Intraoperative measurement of breast-conserving surgery margins: surgical application.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Review
- Whole-body tomographic fluorescence lifetime imaging of PD-L1 expression.Research square · 2026Article
- Emerging Near-Infrared Targeted Imaging Pharmaceutics for Ovarian Cancer.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- The application of nanoparticle-mediated siRNA delivery systems in ovarian cancer.Cancer gene therapy · 2026Review
- Directional conjugation of monoclonal antibodies to nanoparticles using metal-free click chemistry.Nature protocols · 2026Review
- Peptide-Based Probe Targeting Angiotensin Type‑1 Receptor Identifies Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography.Chemical & biomedical imaging · 2026Article
- Clinically accessible drug-based nano-assemblies with self-targeting ability for NIR-II fluorescence imaging-guided surgery in triple-negative breast cancer.Theranostics · 2026Article
- Fluorescence Imaging of Cancer.Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer · 2026Review
- Optical and Optoacoustic Imaging.Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer · 2026Review
- Small-molecule control of CAR T cells.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2025Review
- Molecular-Targeted Fluorescence Lymph Node Imaging Could Play a Clinical Role in the Surgical Setting: A Systematic Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- Novel GAL7-targeted fluorescent molecular imaging probe for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and cervical cancer screening.EJNMMI research · 2025Article
- Fluorescence-Guided Surgery to Detect Microscopic Disease in Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2025Review
- Folic Acid, Folate Conjugates and Folate Receptors: Novel Applications in Imaging of Cancer and Inflammation-Related Conditions.Cancer management and research · 2025Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIntraoperative fluorescence imaging of the folate-receptor alpha (FRα) could support completeness of resection in cancer surgery. Feasibility of EC17, a FRα-targeting agent that fluoresces at 500nm, was demonstrated in a limited series of ovarian cancer patients. Our objective was to evaluate EC17 in a larger group of ovarian cancer patients. In addition, we assessed the feasibility of EC17 in patients with breast cancer.
methodsTwo-to-three hours before surgery 0.1mg/kg EC17 was intravenously administered to 12 patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer and to 3 patients undergoing surgery for biopsy-proven FRα-positive breast cancer. The number of lesions/positive margins detected with fluorescence and concordance between fluorescence and tumor- and FRα-status was assessed in addition to safety and pharmacokinetics.
resultsFluorescence imaging in ovarian cancer patients allowed detection of 57 lesions of which 44 (77%) appeared malignant on histopathology. Seven out of these 44 (16%) were not detected with inspection/palpation. Histopathology demonstrated concordance between fluorescence and FRα- and tumor status. Fluorescence imaging in breast cancer patients, allowed detection of tumor-specific fluorescence signal. At the 500nm wavelength, autofluorescence of normal breast tissue was present to such extent that it interfered with tumor identification.
conclusionsFRα is a favorable target for fluorescence-guided surgery as EC17 produced a clear fluorescent signal in ovarian and breast cancer tissue. This resulted in resection of ovarian cancer lesions that were otherwise not detected. Notwithstanding, autofluorescence caused false-positive lesions in ovarian cancer and difficulty in discriminating breast cancer-specific fluorescence from background signal. Optimization of the 500nm fluorophore, will minimize autofluorescence and further improve intraoperative tumor detection.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.