Listen to a press release about a new research paper published by Oncotarget, entitled, “Targeted elastin-like polypeptide fusion protein for near-infrared imaging of human and canine urothelial carcinoma.” _______________________________ A new research paper was published in Oncotarget on September 6, 2022, entitled, “Targeted elastin-like polypeptide fusion protein for near-infrared imaging of human and canine urothelial carcinoma.” Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common malignancy, affecting more than half a million people worldwide each year, and accounts for 4.6% of the total new cancer cases in the United States. With urothelial carcinoma (UC), the most common form of BC, the 5-year BC recurrence rate is nearly 78%, necessitating life-long surveillance, making it one of the costliest cancers to treat and manage. Cystoscopic visualization of bladder cancer is an essential method for initial bladder cancer detection and diagnosis, transurethral resection, and monitoring for recurrence. Researchers Aayush Aayush, Saloni Darji, Deepika Dhawan, Alexander Enstrom, Meaghan M. Broman, Muhammad T. Idrees, Hristos Kaimakliotis, Timothy Ratliff, Deborah Knapp, and David Thompson from Purdue University and Indiana University sought to develop a new intravesical imaging agent that is more specific and sensitive using a polypeptide based NIR (near-infrared) probe designed to detect cells bearing epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) that are overexpressed in 80% of urothelial carcinoma (UC) cases. The NIR imaging agent consisted of an elastin like polypeptide (ELP) fused with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and conjugated to Cy5.5 to give Cy5.5-N24-EGF as a NIR contrast agent. In addition to evaluation in human cells and tissues, the agent was tested in canine cell lines and tissue samples with naturally occurring invasive UC. “Dogs with naturally-occuring UC are an emerging option for a suitable large animal model of BC, where the cancer displays similar microscopic anatomy, histological appearance, biological behavior, heterogeneity, and molecular subtypes and markers to human invasive BC.” Full press release - https://www.oncotarget.com/news/pr/oncotarget-targeted-elastin-like-polypeptide-fusion-protein-for-near-infrared-imaging-of-human-and-canine-urothelial-carcinoma/ DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28271 Correspondence to: David Thompson – davethom@purdue.edu Keywords: bladder cancer, elastin-like polypeptide, NIR imaging, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), translational studies About Oncotarget: Oncotarget is a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal. Papers are published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form, and then quickly released to Pubmed. To learn more about Oncotarget, visit Oncotarget.com and connect with us: Twitter – https://twitter.com/Oncotarget Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget YouTube – www.youtube.com/c/OncotargetYouTube Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget/ Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ LabTube – https://www.labtube.tv/channel/MTY5OA SoundCloud – https://soundcloud.com/oncotarget For media inquiries, please contact: media@impactjournals.com