Pafolacianine
Pafolacianine, sold under the brand name Cytalux, is an optical imaging agent used in fluorescence-guided surgery.The most common side effects of pafolacianine include infusion-related reactions, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, flushing, dyspepsia, chest discomfort, itching and hypersensitivity.It was approved for medical use in the United States in November 2021.Pafolacianine is a fluorescent drug that targets the folate receptor alpha (FRa).

Medical uses
Pafolacianine is indicated as an adjunct for intraoperative identification of malignant lesions in people with ovarian cancer.

History
The safety and effectiveness of pafolacianine was evaluated in a randomized, multi-center, open-label study of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer or with high clinical suspicion of ovarian cancer who were scheduled to undergo surgery. Of the 134 women (ages 33 to 81 years) who received a dose of pafolacianine and were evaluated under both normal and fluorescent light during surgery, 26.9% had at least one cancerous lesion detected that was not observed by standard visual or tactile inspection.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the application for pafolacianine orphan drug, priority review, and fast track designations. The FDA granted the approval of Cytalux to On Target Laboratories, LLC.

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References
External links
"Pafolacianine". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Clinical trial number NCT03180307 for "OTL38 for Intra-operative Imaging of Folate Receptor Positive Ovarian Cancer" at ClinicalTrials.gov