Advancing CAIX-targeted diagnostics and therapeutics
Surgery remains the primary treatment for early-stage renal cancer; however, a significant proportion of patients are already diagnosed with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at presentation, and many experience recurrence or metastasis shortly after surgery. Once metastasis occurs, the prognosis worsens considerably, with substantially reduced survival times. At this stage, combined surgical and systemic therapies are typically required.
Current clinical practice faces two major challenges: first, conventional imaging techniques such as CT and MRI have limited diagnostic accuracy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), falling short of the precision needed for early detection; second, although existing targeted therapies can delay disease progression, their overall efficacy is limited and resistance often develops.
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) exhibits highly specific expression in ccRCC patients, providing a precise molecular foundation for targeted theranostic approaches. The development of CAIX-targeted radionuclide drug conjugates (RDCs) holds promise to overcome existing diagnostic and therapeutic limitations, offering patients more effective and precise treatment options and addressing critical unmet clinical needs.