Development of Preclinical Ultrasound Imaging Techniques to Identify and Image Sentinel Lymph Nodes in a Cancerous Animal Model

Abstract

Lymph nodes (LNs) are believed to be the first organs targeted by colorectal cancer cells detached from a primary solid tumor because of their role in draining interstitial fluids. Better detection and assessment of these organs have the potential to help clinicians in stratification and designing optimal design of oncological treatments for each patient. Whilst highly valuable for the detection of primary tumors, CT and MRI remain limited for the characterization of LNs. B-mode ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can improve the detection of LNs and could provide critical complementary information to MRI and CT scans; however, the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) guidelines advise that further evidence is required before US or CEUS can be recommended for clinical use. Moreover, knowledge of the lymphatic system and LNs is relatively limited, especially in preclinical models. In this pilot study, we have created a mouse model of metastatic cancer and utilized 3D high-frequency ultrasound to assess the volume, shape, and absence of hilum, along with CEUS to assess the flow dynamics of tumor-free and tumor-bearing LNs in vivo. The aforementioned parameters were used to create a scoring system to predict the likelihood of a disease-involved LN before establishing post-mortem diagnosis with histopathology. Preliminary results suggest that a sum score of parameters may provide a more accurate diagnosis than the LN size, the single parameter currently used to predict the involvement of an LN in disease.

In Vivo Contrast Imaging of Rat Heart with Carbon Dioxide Foam

“…The Wash-in Rate also shows how steep the slope is during perfusion. These parameters are also valuable instruments for the identification of sentinel lymph nodes cancer [ 19 ]. Similarly, Świtalska et al describe both above-mentioned parameters for the assessment of tumor perfusion.…”

Using the esophageal cancer stem cells (CSCs) for better understanding the tumor metastasis and metastasis-associated genes

“…Cancer cells must overcome many factors in the bloodstream to reach a new organ, including caspase-dependent apoptosis (anoikis) due to Loss of adhesion and escape from the host cell immune system [44]. Studies show that micrometastasis may be missed during the pathology examination [45]. Therefore, the need to use immunohistochemistry with the help of anti-human antibodies can be a great help in con rming the presence of metastasis.…”

State of the Art in Carbon Nanomaterials for Photoacoustic Imaging

“…In biomedical studies, various imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [ 6 ], positron emission tomography (PET), X-ray computed tomography (X-ray), ultrasound imaging (USI) [ 7 , 8 ], and optical imaging techniques have been used for monitoring biological response in small animals. Among the imaging techniques, photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has widely been explored in the last two decades since it has unique characteristics through inherited complementary advantages from optical imaging and USI [ 9 ].…”