Cancer mortality rates are primarily a result of cancer metastasis. Recent advances in microscopy technology allow for the imaging of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as they extravasate (exit) blood vessels, a key step in the metastasis process. Here, we describe the use of intravital microscopy techniques to image and isolate both extravasating melanoma CTCs and the extravasation-participating endothelial cells. These techniques can be used as a means to study cancer metastasis and as a screening tool for anticancer therapeutics.
Keywords: Angiopellosis; Cancer Exodus Hypothesis; Circulating tumor cells; Extravasation; Intravital microscopy; Light sheet microscopy; Metastasis; Tumor cell isolation; Tumor infusion; Zebrafish.