Photoacoustic imaging and therapy utilizing molecular specific plasmonic nanoparticles

A typical cancer treatment protocol generally includes surgery followed by chemotherapy or radiation. However, the probability of recurrence is often high in advanced cases because of the metastatic nature of many aggressive lesions. The early diagnosis of cancer before the onset of invasion or metastasis is necessary for effective therapeutic treatment. According to the cancer statistics of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program [1], the relative survival rate increases to 90% when cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. Moreover, the tumor boundary has to be determined with high specificity for effectively guiding therapeutic interventions. Therefore, there is a need for a reliable, deep penetrating, noninvasive imaging tool with high sensitivity and specificity to detect cancer in early stages. One such imaging tool could be combined ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging [2] enhanced by molecularly targeted plasmonic gold nanoparticles [3-5].