Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Here, we used phage display to identify a novel peptide (SP94) which binds specifically to HCC cells. In vitro, the phage clone PC94 was shown to bind to HCC cell lines by ELISA and flow cytometry analysis. In vivo, PC94 homed specifically to tumor tissues but not to normal visceral organs in SCID mice bearing human HCC xenografts. This homing ability could be competitively inhibited by synthetic peptide, SP94. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed that PC94 localized to tumor tissues and that it could not be detected in SP94-competed tumor tissues. In addition, PC94 recognized the tumor tissue but not non-tumor tissue in surgical specimens from HCC patients, with a positive rate of 61.3% (19/31). With the conjugation of SP94 and liposomal doxorubicin, the targeted drug delivery system enhanced the therapeutic efficacy against HCC xenografts through enhanced tumor apoptosis and decreased tumor angiogenesis. Our results indicate that SP94 has the potential to improve the systemic treatment of patients with advanced HCC

(Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 7, 579-589, 2008).

Correspondence to Dr Han-Chung Wu, E-mail: hcw0928@gate.sinica.edu.tw

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