Comparison of diagnostic efficacy of MRI and PET/CT in lung cancer of mouse with spinal metastasis

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficacy of MRI and PET/CT in lung cancer of mouse with spinal metastasis. 40 healthy Balb/c nude mice were selected. 0.1 ml of human lung cancer cell A549 bacterial suspension was injected by the left ventricle injection method to establish a lung cancer spinal metastasis model, and the abnormal signs of the nude mice were closely observed. When the body weight was reduced by 20%, micro PET/CT imaging and small coil MRI imaging were applied after intraperitoneal injection of thiopental anesthesia in nude mice. After the imaging was completed, the nude mouse was dissected and the spinal tumor was removed. The nature of spinal metastases was diagnosed by the pathology department. 5 nude mice died of abdominal infection, 2 nude mice had no spinal tumors, and the remaining 33 nude mice were successfully modeled. 33 nude mice were confirmed by pathology to have 64 metastatic vertebral lesions, among them, there were 7 cervical vertebrae, 24 thoracic vertebrae, 16 lumbar vertebrae, 6 sacral vertebrae and 11 caudal vertebrae. The sensitivity of MRI in the diagnosis of spinal metastases was 78.13%, and specificity was 56.25%. The sensitivity of PET/CT for the diagnosis of spinal metastases was 92.19%, and specificity was 78.95%. The specificity and positive predictive value of PET/CT for the diagnosis of spinal metastases were not significantly different from those of MRI (P> 0.05). The sensitivity, accuracy and negative predictive values were significantly higher than those of MRI (P< 0.05). PET/CT is superior to MRI in the diagnosis of spinal metastases, and its sensitivity, accuracy and negative predictive values were significantly higher than those of MRI (P< 0.05). It is worthy to be further promoted in clinical practice.

How to Target Spinal Metastasis in Experimental Research: An Overview of Currently Used Experimental Mouse Models and Future Prospects

“…Thus far, in the given overview of mouse models investigating spinal metastasis, intravascular injection techniques were used for cell inoculation primarily. These include intracardial [ 19 , 22 , 23 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 33 ], intraarterial [ 25 , 26 , 31 , 32 ] and intravenous [ 19 , 20 , 21 ] routes. Subcutaneous [ 38 ] or orthotopic injections at primary site [ 37 ] were used less frequently.…”

“…Intravascular models achieved rates from 30 to 80%, whereas direct inoculation methods into vertebral structures showed a 100% success rate. The time until spinal metastasis developed, meaning detectable with imaging techniques or by clinical symptoms, was approximately 3–6 weeks [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 ] or longer [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 35 ] ( Table 1 ).…”

“…One of the most challenging parts is to track tumor cells during the colonization process before they form a growing metastatic tumor. To investigate the development of metastasis longitudinally, Bioluminescence (BLI), Computer tomography (CT), Magnet Resonance Imaging (MRI) as well as Positron emission tomography (PET) have been used, with different advantages and disadvantages elsewhere described in detail [ 30 , 43 ]. To this day, the resolution of these imaging techniques is only at approximately 0.3–0.5 mm 3 or worse [ 43 ].…”

“…Bioluminescence imaging is dependent on the successful preparation of cells before inoculation to express luciferase gene. Other methods are limited, because structural changes have to take place before metastases can be detected [ 30 ]. A promising method in this field is the use of PET-CT.…”

“…A promising method in this field is the use of PET-CT. In diagnostics of spinal metastasis in mice, Hu et al demonstrated higher sensitivity, accuracy and negative predictive values for PET-CT imaging using 18F-FDG tracer in comparison to MRI because increased metabolic processes occurs before structural changes become detectable [ 30 ].…”