Bevacizumab-IRDye800 as an imaging probe for the detection of prostate cancer in mice

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signalling plays a critical role in carcinogenesis and tumour development in several types of cancer. Therefore, we sought to evaluate a fluorescently labelled monoclonal antibody against VEGF-A (Bevacizumab) as a probe for the detection of prostate cancer by in vivo fluorescence imaging. An orthotopic model of prostate cancer was generated by injecting bioluminescent human PC3 cells into the prostate lobe, followed by bioluminescence in vivo. Bevacizumab was labelled using a near-infrared fluorophore to generate a specific imaging probe (Bevacizumab-IRDye800). The probe was injected intravenously into prostate cancer-bearing mice, and fluorescence was monitored in vivo by fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT). 72 h post-injection, Bevacizumab-IRDye800 was detected in vivo by FMT in the prostate region. On excised prostates, the fluorescence signal overlaid with the bioluminescent signal from cancer cells. Our data demonstrate that Bevacizumab-IRDye800 is a high-affinity contrast agent for in vivo detection of prostate cancer tumours, paving the way to further development of near-infrared-labelled Bevacizumab-IRDye800 for the detection of other solid cancers.