Progress of engineered antibody-targeted molecular imaging for solid tumors (review)

Engineered antibodies, with their high specificity and affinity for their target antigens, as well as their reduced size and multivalent design, can be tailored to carry radionuclide magnetic, luciferase or fluorescent probes for specific attachment to tissue cells, extracellularly or intracellularly, for PET, SPECT, MRI, optical and ultrasonic imaging. The antigen-specific imaging agents of engineered antibodies have deep tissue penetration, high tissue retention and fast blood clearance, which are desirable properties for the rapid imaging of tumors with high specificity and resolution in pre-clinical or clinical imaging studies.