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Haemodynamics and Oxygenation of the Tumour Microcirculation

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Advances in Intravital Microscopy

Abstract

Abnormalities of the tumour vasculature and their consequences on the microenvironment of tumour cells impact on tumour progression and response to both blood-borne anti-cancer agents and radio-therapy, as well as making tumour blood vessels a target for therapy in their own right. Intravital microscopy of experimental tumours, most commonly grown in ‘window’ chambers, such as the dorsal skin fold chamber in mice and rats, enables investigations of tumour microcirculatory function. This is needed both to understand the molecular control of tumour vascular function and to measure the response of the vasculature to treatment. In particular, intravital microscopy enables parameters associated with blood supply, vascular permeability and oxygenation to be estimated, at high spatial and temporal resolution. In this chapter, methods used for measuring a range of these parameters, specific examples of their applications, the significance of findings and some of the limitations of the techniques are described.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A membrane marker commonly used is DiI (1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), an indocarbocyanine dye retained in lipid bi-layers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors’ research was funded by a Programme Grant from Cancer Research UK.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Tumour Microcirculation Group, CR-UK/YCR Sheffield Cancer Research Centre, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Gillian M. Tozer, Rachel Daniel & Sarah Jane Lunt

  2. Department of Oncology, F Floor, School of Medicine, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK

    Gillian M. Tozer, Rachel Daniel & Sarah Jane Lunt

  3. Information Engineering and Medical Imaging Group, School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, City University, London, EC1V OHB, UK

    Constantino C. Reyes-Aldasoro

  4. Division of Applied Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Forester Hill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK

    Vincent J. Cunningham

Authors
  1. Gillian M. Tozer
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  2. Rachel Daniel
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  3. Sarah Jane Lunt
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  4. Constantino C. Reyes-Aldasoro
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  5. Vincent J. Cunningham
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gillian M. Tozer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Roberto Weigert

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Tozer, G.M., Daniel, R., Lunt, S.J., Reyes-Aldasoro, C.C., Cunningham, V.J. (2014). Haemodynamics and Oxygenation of the Tumour Microcirculation. In: Weigert, R. (eds) Advances in Intravital Microscopy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9361-2_6

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