title: Quantitative assessment of small intraosseous prostate cancer burden in SCID mice using fluorescence imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Experimental bone metastases are typically analyzed when the skeletal tumor burden is large enough to be detected by imaging or histology. By this time, the bone microenvironment is usually destroyed, preventing useful analysis of tumor-bone interactions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Small intraosseous tumors generated by intratibial injection of C4-2B prostate cancer cells transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) were assessed using in vivo and ex vivo fluorescence imaging, radiography, histology, and fluorometric analysis of bone lysates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ex vivo fluorescence imaging and fluorometric analysis were capable of detecting tiny bone tumors as early as 10 days after injection. Ex vivo fluorescence imaging allowed simple quantification of small skeletal tumor burden and was useful in measuring the effect of systemic therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ex vivo fluorescence imaging is a sensitive and easy method to quantify small skeletal tumor burden. This technique allows investigation of tumor-bone interactions while the bone microanatomy is still intact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Wayne State University School of Medicine and The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
authors.forename: Hamilto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: R Daniel
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bonfil
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wiesner
authors.forename: Sanaa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nabha
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saliganan
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabbota
authors.forename: Sreenivasa R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chinni
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D011859:Radiography; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards