Non-invasive diagnostic agents of cancer and methods of diagnosing cancer, especially leukemia and lymphoma

Abstract

The present invention is directed to novel non-invasive diagnostic tools to image cancers, especially, leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) with minimal toxicity in vivo. The present invention represents a clear advance in the art which presently relies on tissue biopsy for diagnoses of these cancers. The novel imaging probe is capable of detecting precancerous cells, as well as their metastatic spread in tissues. This represents a quantum step forward in the diagnosis and staging of NHL using non-invasively molecular imaging techniques. This novel probe will also be useful to monitor patients response to chemotherapy treatments and other interventions or therapies used in the treatment of NHL. Compounds according to the present invention may be used as diagnostic tools for a number of conditions and diseases states as well as therapeutic agents for treating such conditions and disease states.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.