Ultrasound is a widely available, portable, and relatively inexpensive imaging modality used as a first-line imaging technique in patients with suspected breast or ovarian lesions. The introduction of molecularly targeted contrast microbubbles that can bind to certain molecules expresses in cancer has made ultrasound a molecular imaging modality that allows improved detection, characterization, and monitoring of cancer in preclinical studies. Contrast microbubbles are micron-sized, purely intravascular contrast agents consisting of a gaseous core contained by a shell.
By functionalizing the shell with binding ligands to certain molecules, microbubble-enhanced ultrasound can visualize molecules such as kinase insert domain receptor (KDR), one of the key regulators of neo-angiogenesis differentially expressed in various cancers including breast and ovarian cancer. Several preclinical…
