Abstract
Lung cancer, especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is the most common malignant tumor associated with poor prognosis. Angiogenesis plays a vital role in NSCLC, and could be used in tumor staging and therapy evaluation. CD93 (C1q receptor) is reportedly a key regulator of tumor angiogenesis. In the present study, the efficacy and specificity of a 125I-labeled CD93-specific monoclonal antibody (125I-anti-CD93 mAb) in detecting NSCLC xenografts were analyzed, and the association between CD93 expression and 125I-anti-CD93 mAb uptake by tumors was evaluated. The targeting ability of 125I-anti-CD93 mAb enabled its rapid, continuous and highly specific accumulation in CD93-expressing tumors in vivo. These results revealed the potential applicability of 125I-anti-CD93 mAb for non-invasive imaging diagnosis of CD93-positive NSCLC.