Lighting up metastasis process before formation of secondary tumor by phosphorescence imaging

Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths; until now, the detection of tumor metastasis is mainly located at the period that secondary tumors have been formed, which usually results in poor prognosis. Thus, fast and precise positioning of organs, where tumor metastases are likely to occur at its earliest stages, is essential for improving patient outcomes. Here, we demonstrated a phosphorescence imaging method by organic nanoparticles to detect early tumor metastasis progress with microenvironmental changes, putting the detection period ahead to the formation of secondary tumors. In the orthotopic and simulated hematological tumor metastasis models, the microenvironmental changes could be recognized by phosphorescence imaging at day 3, after tumor implantation in liver or intravenous injection of cancer cells. It was far ahead those of other reported imaging methods with at least 7 days later, providing a sensitive and convenient method to monitor tumor metastases at the early stage.