A Multimodal Imaging Approach for Longitudinal Evaluation of Bladder Tumor Development in an Orthotopic Murine Model

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 17;11(8):e0161284. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161284. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common malignancy amongst men in Western industrialized countries with an initial response rate of 70% for the non-muscle invasive type, and improving therapy efficacy is highly needed. For this, an appropriate, reliable animal model is essential to gain insight into mechanisms of tumor growth for use in response monitoring of (new) agents. Several animal models have been described in previous studies, but so far success has been hampered due to the absence of imaging methods to follow tumor growth non-invasively over time. Recent developments of multimodal imaging methods for use in animal research have substantially strengthened these options of in vivo visualization of tumor growth. In the present study, a multimodal imaging approach was addressed to investigate bladder tumor proliferation longitudinally. The complementary abilities of Bioluminescence, High Resolution Ultrasound and Photo-acoustic Imaging permit a better understanding of bladder tumor development. Hybrid imaging modalities allow the integration of individual strengths to enable sensitive and improved quantification and understanding of tumor biology, and ultimately, can aid in the discovery and development of new therapeutics.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Multimodal Imaging / methods*
  • Mycobacterium bovis / immunology
  • Neoplasm Transplantation
  • Photoacoustic Techniques / methods*
  • Ultrasonography / methods*
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / pathology

Grants and funding

Fujifilm VisualSonics Inc. did not play a role in the study design, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. FujiFilm VisualSonics Inc. did not provide any salary to the authors CS, MJB and CFMM. FUJIFILM VisualSonics Inc. only provided access and use of their equipment and both co-author’s (SM, JJ) helped with operating the system, explaining the system, how to collect the data without further interest related to the outcome of the data. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors SM and JJ, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.