Protein-based MRI agent detects lung cancer and hidden metastases earlier than current scans
· Medical Xpressby Noelle Toumey Reetz, Georgia State University
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A multi-institutional research team led by Georgia State University Regents' Professor Emerita of Biochemistry and Biophysical Chemistry Jenny J. Yang has developed a new class of protein-based MRI contrast agents that detect invasive lung cancer and metastatic disease at earlier stages than conventional imaging approaches. Results of this research, recently published in the journal Science Advances, report a precision MRI method that can identify tumors and metastases as small as 1 millimeter.
"Lung cancer is often diagnosed only after it has spread, when treatment options become more limited," Yang said. "Our technology can detect tiny tumors and hidden metastases without exposing patients to radiation. It also helps reveal how aggressive a cancer may be and how likely it is to spread, potentially reducing the need for invasive biopsies."
Targeting collagen in aggressive tumors
The research describes a protein-based MRI contrast agent, hProCA32.Collagen, which targets collagen type I, a structural protein found at elevated levels in aggressive lung tumors and metastatic lesions. In preclinical studies, this technology enabled researchers to detect and quantify small lung tumors and metastases in the lung, adrenal glands and kidneys while mapping biological features linked to tumor invasion and progression.
Similar to a previously reported imaging agent developed by Yang's team that targeted the cancer biomarker CXCR4, the hProCA32.collagen agent targets abnormal collagen development within the tumor microenvironment. This biomarker-targeting approach represents a new generation of molecular imaging technology designed to enhance imaging and improve detection of cancerous cells at earlier stages of development.
Researchers found the approach was particularly effective in aggressive lung adenocarcinomas associated with certain mutations, which are frequently resistant to current therapies and prone to spreading to multiple organs.
The findings are the result of a collaboration among researchers from Georgia State University, Emory University, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and other partner institutions.
Collaboration behind the imaging advance
Yang's team at Georgia State, including co-first authors Dongjun "Darren" Li and Oluwabukola "Sophia" Bamishaye of the university's Center for Diagnostics and Therapeutics and Molecular Basis of Disease programs, led development of the collagen-targeted contrast agent and the precision MRI methodology, with imaging studies conducted at Georgia State's Advanced Translational Imaging Facility (ATIF).
Researchers at Emory University, including co-corresponding author Wei Zhou of the Winship Cancer Institute, contributed cancer models and expertise in cancer biology and translational research, while collaborators at UAB provided imaging physics expertise and additional imaging analysis. The study was jointly led by Yang and Zhou.
"This breakthrough was made possible through a close collaboration between Georgia State University and Emory University, bringing together complementary expertise in advanced imaging and cancer biology," Zhou said.
By combining innovative imaging technology with sophisticated models of cancer metastasis, the researchers were able to visualize invasive lung cancer and its spread to other organs at much earlier stages than previously possible.
Path toward clinical testing
Beyond diagnosis, the findings may have important implications for personalized cancer treatment. By enabling physicians to visualize collagen remodeling throughout primary and metastatic tumors, the technology may eventually help identify high-risk patients, guide treatment selection and monitor response to therapy over time.
"This is a game changer for cancer diagnosis and precision medicine," Yang said. "For the first time, we've shown that precision MRI can detect tiny tumors and whole-body metastases without using harmful radiation while also providing important clues about how aggressively a cancer may behave."
Helping advance the technology toward clinical use is InLighta Biosciences, a biotechnology company founded by Yang that has licensed related intellectual property from Georgia State. The company is working to move next-generation protein-based diagnostic and therapeutic agents toward clinical development. Researchers are now also working toward an investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical testing of the technology.
Publication details
Dongjun Li et al, Early detection of invasive lung cancer and multiorgan metastasis by a collagen-targeted protein MRI contrast agent, Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adz6815
Journal information: Science Advances
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