Improved resection and outcome of colon-cancer liver metastasis with fluorescence-guided surgery using in situ GFP labeling with a telomerase-dependent adenovirus in an orthotopic mouse model

Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) of cancer is an area of intense development. In the present report, we demonstrate that the telomerase-dependent green fluorescent protein (GFP)-containing adenovirus OBP-401 could label colon-cancer liver metastasis in situ in an orthotopic mouse model enabling successful FGS. OBP-401-GFP-labeled liver metastasis resulted in complete resection with FGS, in contrast, conventional bright-light surgery (BLS) did not result in complete resection of the metastasis. OBP-401-FGS reduced the recurrence rate and prolonged over-all survival compared with BLS. In conclusion, adenovirus OBP-401 is a powerful tool to label liver metastasis in situ with GFP which enables its complete resection, not possible with conventional BLS.