Dual-modality monitoring of tumor response to cyclophosphamide therapy in mice with bioluminescence imaging and small-animal positron emission tomography

Mol Imaging. 2011 Aug;10(4):278-83. doi: 10.2310/7290.2010.00041. Epub 2011 Apr 1.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to noninvasively monitor the therapeutic efficacy of cyclophosphamide (CTX) in a mouse model by dual-modality molecular imaging: positron emission tomography (PET) and bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Firefly luciferase (fLuc) transfected HCC-LM3-fLuc human hepatocellular carcinoma cells were injected subcutaneously into BALB/c nude mice to establish the experimental tumor model. Two groups of HCC-LM3-fLuc tumor-bearing mice (n = 7 per group) were treated with saline or CTX (100 mg/kg on days 0, 2, 5, and 7). BLI and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET scans were done to evaluate the treatment efficacy. CTX induced a 25.25 ± 13.13% and 35.91 ± 25.85% tumor growth inhibition rate on days 9 and 12 posttreatment, respectively, as determined by BLI. A good linear correlation was found between the tumor sizes measured by caliper and the BLI signals determined by optical imaging (R(2) = .9216). (18)F-FDG imaging revealed a significant uptake reduction in the tumors of the CTX-treated group compared to that in the saline control group (5.30 ± 1.97 vs 3.00 ± 2.11% ID/g) on day 16 after CTX treatment. Dual-modality molecular imaging using BLI and small-animal PET can play important roles in the process of chemotherapy and will provide noninvasive and reliable monitoring of the therapeutic response.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / therapeutic use*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cyclophosphamide / therapeutic use*
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Luminescence*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • Neoplasm Transplantation
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / metabolism
  • Random Allocation
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Cyclophosphamide