Researchers of TTK have collaborated on developing a new procedure to accelerate cancer diagnosis and identify different types of cancer cells

Since more than 32,000 people die from cancer in Hungary every year – various types of tumors are responsible for every third death among men and every fourth death among women in the country – improvements in cancer diagnostic techniques are of key importance. The goal of the consortium was to shorten waiting times related to detailed histological examinations required for the diagnosis of malignant tumor diseases, for which the researchers developed a new antibody labeling procedure. The staff of TTK’s Medicinal Chemistry Research Group has produced new fluorescent dye families using a synthetic organic chemical process, which, when used together with commercially available dyes and fluorophores produced by Femtonics Kft., may be suitable for the simultaneous identification of several types of cancer at multiple wavelengths.

Distinguishing between healthy and diseased cells is extremely important in oncological diagnostics, and this is made possible by using antibodies in a specific way. After conducting professional consultations with Semmelweis University, the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group developed three antibodies used in oncological diagnostics and a new labeling process, which together allow the antibodies to be homogeneously equipped with a controlled quantity of dye molecules.

Linking the antibodies to the dyes makes available a collection of diagnostic antibody-dye conjugates. These conjugates enable various antigens – in this case, those that develop in breast cancers – to be specifically detected. The conjugates were characterized by the medicinal chemistry researchers together with their colleagues from the Integrative Neuroscience Research Group, and using both in vitro and ex vivo microscopic methods applied to cell cultures and tissue samples, they successfully demonstrated that applying them makes it possible to identify several types of cancer cells and even label them with different colored dyes.

This newly developed method is a significant achievement for the future of cancer diagnosis and therapy. The technique can help, for example, during surgical interventions, by identifying which cells need to be removed without damaging healthy cells. In addition, the use of antibody cocktails may make it possible to differentiate between different types of cancer cells.

The research was carried out as part of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund’s Competitiveness and Excellence Cooperations (VKE) program within the framework of the “Molecular pathological diagnosis of malignant tumor diseases during surgery using a laser microscope supported by artificial intelligence” project, which received a grant of about HUF 1.3 billion.