Abstract
In recent years, the advent of new imaging technologies has enabled researchers to portray the development of metastases in animal models in a new light. Previously, observing the behaviour of metastatic cells required the sacrifice of the animal and thus the progress of development or treatment is often incomplete and necessarily elucidated from sequential sacrifices of inbred animals. Considering the technical difficulties in visualizing individual metastatic cells by traditional immunohistochemical or staining methods, understanding the critical first steps of micrometastatic development was difficult and often impractical. New technologies, in particular the ability to force cells of interest to fluoresce amongst a dull background, have enabled researchers to visualize the behaviour of individual metastatic cells in host organisms. These methods, in conjunction with new, non-lethal intravital imaging methods, have contributed greatly to the body of knowledge regarding malignant cells and the development of metastases. This chapter will discuss several of the more popular imaging methods such as luciferase, green fluorescent protein, MRI, CT, PET, and will analyze the advantages and limitations of each method.
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Logan, P.T. (2013). Animal Model Imaging Techniques. In: Burnier, J., Burnier, Jr., M. (eds) Experimental and Clinical Metastasis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3685-0_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3685-0_18
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