Intraoperative Imaging of Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma

The goal is to improve surgery by preventing tumor cells from being left behind at the time of surgery. This includes finding residual tumor cells in the wound after surgery.

The goal is to improve the intraoperative identification of tumor cells at positive margins and regional metastases that may be missed by a surgeon during a pulmonary resection. Improved identification of tumor cells will result in superior disease clearance and more accurate clinical staging. The investigators hypothesize that targeted fluorescent imaging during surgery will improve identification of positive margins and metastases. Since folate receptor alpha (FR ) is expressed on 55% of resectable lung cancer, the investigators will utilize a fluorescent probe that targets these tumors. As real-time imaging provides more information to the surgeon, more personalized and directed operations can be conducted. This work will allow for more preservation of normal tissue, decreased morbidity, decreased surgical time, increased surgical confidence, improved cancer detection, decreased unnecessary surgery and ultimately improved tumor free survival. This technology should transform clinical surgery from an art that depends fully on the human factor to a procedure that has precision and fail safes.