Imaging the Tumor Microenvironment

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Tumor Microenvironment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 4953

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Interests: tumor metabolism; hypoxia; tumor microenvironment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Interests: optical imaging; optical spectroscopy; tumor hypoxia; radiation therapy; intravital microscopy; tumor physiology; angiogenesis; nanomedicine

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Guest Editor
Pole of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), 1200 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: tumor metabolism; hypoxia; angiogenesis; metastasis; chemoresistance; radioresistance; glycolysis; oxidative phosphorylation; lactate; mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS); translational research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The tumor microenvironment is characterized by a plethora of physiologic, metabolic, and cellular malfunctions that inhibit the treatment response, immunologic function, and tumor aggressiveness. A host of methods have been used to define the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, but congruity about how to best use imaging of key characteristics of the tumor microenvironment is lacking. Because the microenvironment is spatially heterogeneous within and between tumors, it is essential that methods to image it are delineated to enable ground-breaking research, observations and development of biomarkers of tumor aggressiveness, and prediction and/or monitoring of the treatment response.

This Special Issue collates papers from key thought leaders in how to image tumor microenvironment. While far from being completely inclusive, the papers illustrate methods and approaches that reveal important spatially dependent information about the tumor microenvironment.

Prof. Dr. Mark W Dewhirst
Dr. Gregory M. Palmer
Prof. Dr. Pierre Sonveaux
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4449 KiB  
Article
MRI Assessment of Changes in Tumor Vascularization during Neoadjuvant Anti-Angiogenic Treatment in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Patients
by Torgeir Mo, Siri Helene Bertelsen Brandal, Oliver Marcel Geier, Olav Engebråten, Line Brennhaug Nilsen, Vessela N. Kristensen, Knut Håkon Hole, Tord Hompland, Thomas Fleischer and Therese Seierstad
Cancers 2023, 15(18), 4662; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15184662 - 21 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1455
Abstract
Anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) treatment improves response rates, but not progression-free or overall survival in advanced breast cancer. It has been suggested that subgroups of patients may benefit from this treatment; however, the effects of adding anti-VEGF treatment to a standard chemotherapy [...] Read more.
Anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) treatment improves response rates, but not progression-free or overall survival in advanced breast cancer. It has been suggested that subgroups of patients may benefit from this treatment; however, the effects of adding anti-VEGF treatment to a standard chemotherapy regimen in breast cancer patients are not well studied. Understanding the effects of the anti-vascular treatment on tumor vasculature may provide a selection of patients that can benefit. The aim of this study was to study the vascular effect of bevacizumab using clinical dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). A total of 70 women were randomized to receive either chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy with bevacizumab for 25 weeks. DCE-MRI was performed at baseline and at 12 and 25 weeks, and in addition 25 of 70 patients agreed to participate in an early MRI after one week. Voxel-wise pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using semi-quantitative methods and the extended Tofts model. Vascular architecture was assessed by calculating the fractal dimension of the contrast-enhanced images. Changes during treatment were compared with baseline and between the treatment groups. There was no significant difference in tumor volume at any point; however, DCE-MRI parameters revealed differences in vascular function and vessel architecture. Adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy led to a pronounced reduction in vascular DCE-MRI parameters, indicating decreased vascularity. At 12 and 25 weeks, the difference between the treatment groups is severely reduced. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging the Tumor Microenvironment)
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16 pages, 30362 KiB  
Article
A Novel Preclinical Murine Model to Monitor Inflammatory Breast Cancer Tumor Growth and Lymphovascular Invasion
by Ashlyn G. Rickard, Dorababu S. Sannareddy, Alexandra Bennion, Pranalee Patel, Scott J. Sauer, Douglas C. Rouse, Samantha Bouchal, Harrison Liu, Mark W. Dewhirst, Gregory M. Palmer and Gayathri R. Devi
Cancers 2023, 15(8), 2261; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15082261 - 12 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3056
Abstract
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), an understudied and lethal breast cancer, is often misdiagnosed due to its unique presentation of diffuse tumor cell clusters in the skin and dermal lymphatics. Here, we describe a window chamber technique in combination with a novel transgenic mouse [...] Read more.
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), an understudied and lethal breast cancer, is often misdiagnosed due to its unique presentation of diffuse tumor cell clusters in the skin and dermal lymphatics. Here, we describe a window chamber technique in combination with a novel transgenic mouse model that has red fluorescent lymphatics (ProxTom RFP Nu/Nu) to simulate IBC clinicopathological hallmarks. Various breast cancer cells stably transfected to express green or red fluorescent reporters were transplanted into mice bearing dorsal skinfold window chambers. Intravital fluorescence microscopy and the in vivo imaging system (IVIS) were used to serially quantify local tumor growth, motility, length density of lymph and blood vessels, and degree of tumor cell lymphatic invasion over 0–140 h. This short-term, longitudinal imaging time frame in studying transient or dynamic events of diffuse and collectively migrating tumor cells in the local environment and quantitative analysis of the tumor area, motility, and vessel characteristics can be expanded to investigate other cancer cell types exhibiting lymphovascular invasion, a key step in metastatic dissemination. It was found that these models were able to effectively track tumor cluster migration and dissemination, which is a hallmark of IBC clinically, and was recapitulated in these mouse models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging the Tumor Microenvironment)
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