Hsp70-based intraoperative molecular imaging of head and neck carcinoma by topically spraying the fluorescence-labeled peptide tracer TPP-IRDye800

Introduction The membrane-associated form of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) represents a promising target for fluorescence-based intraoperative molecular imaging. Contrary to normal tissue cells, Hsp70 is selectively upregulated on the plasma membrane many tumor entities, including HNSCC.We investigated whether topical application fluorescence-labeled peptide tracer (TPP-IRDye800), that specifically binds Hsp70, can detect tissues.