Application of phage display to discovery of tumor-specific homing peptides: developing strategies for therapy and molecular imaging of cancer.

Selective delivery of drugs or imaging dyes to tumor is the central challenge for improving existing therapy and diagnosis of cancer. Phage display of random peptides has been used to identify homing peptides that are specific to tumor cells or tumor blood vessels. These homing peptides can be conjugated with imaging agents or therapeutic drugs and may be a promising tool for affinity-based targeted delivery of imaging agents and drugs.

Targeting bladder tumor cells in vivo and in the urine with a peptide identified by phage display.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common tumors of the genitourinary tract. Here, we use phage display to identify a peptide that targets bladder tumor cells. A phage library containing random peptides was screened for binding to cells from human bladder tumor xenografts.