title: Noninvasive visualization of tumor growth in a human colorectal liver metastases xenograft model using bioluminescence in vivo imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) is an ideal tool for noninvasive, quantitative monitoring of tumor progression/regression in animal models. The effectiveness of different treatment strategies is displayed by an altered intensity of bioluminescence, demonstrating a change of the tumor burden. The aim of this study was to establish a reliable, reproducible colorectal hepatic metastases cancer animal model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cells of the human colon carcinoma cell line HCT-116 Luc(pos) expressing the firefly luciferase enzyme gene were used. HCT-116 Luc(pos) cells (2.5 × 10(6)) were injected through the portal vein into the liver of immunoincompetent nude mice. BLI was used to analyze intrahepatic tumor burden and growth kinetic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HCT-116 Luc(pos) cells demonstrated a progressive and reproducible growth in the liver after intraportal injection. Four days after injection, the animals were analyzed for tumor growth by BLI, and mice without or too low bioluminescence signals were excluded (between 10% and 20% animals). HCT-116 Luc(pos) intrahepatic tumors responded successfully to different dosages (5 and 10 mg/kg) of 5-fluorouracil.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BLI is an important tool with many potential advantages for investigators. The measurement of intrahepatic tumor growth by imaging luciferase activity noninvasively provides valuable information on tumor burden and effectiveness of therapy. Thus, the presented intrahepatic metastases model based on the growth of HCT-116 Luc(pos) cells is suitable for in vivo testing of different cancer therapy strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral, Vascular, and Paediatric Surgery, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. Electronic address: Thalheimer_A@chirurgie.uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thalheimer
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Korb
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bönicke
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiegering
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mühling
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Simone S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Riedel
authors.forename: Christoph Thomas
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Germer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beilhack
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brändlein
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Otto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000494:pharmacology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D047368:Tumor Burden; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D008156:Luciferases; D005472:Fluorouracil
keywords: Bioluminescence; Colorectal carcinoma; In vivo imaging; Liver metastases; Luciferase; Mouse xenograft cancer models