TY - JOUR
T1 - The Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane as a Low-Cost, High-Throughput Model for Cancer Imaging
AU - Smith, Lydia
AU - Greenwood, Hannah
AU - Tyrrell, Will
AU - Edwards, Richard
AU - De Santis, Vittorio
AU - Baark, Fred
AU - Firth, George
AU - Tanc, Muhammet
AU - Terry, Samantha
AU - Herrmann, Anne
AU - Southworth, Richard
AU - Witney, Tim
PY - 2023/11/29
Y1 - 2023/11/29
N2 - Mouse models are invaluable tools for radiotracer development and validation. They are, however, expensive, low throughput, and are constrained by animal welfare considerations. Here, we assessed the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as an alternative to mice for preclinical cancer imaging studies. NCI-H460 FLuc cells grown in Matrigel on the CAM formed vascularized tumors of reproducible size without compromising embryo viability. By designing a simple method for vessel cannulation it was possible to perform dynamic PET imaging in ovo, producing high tumor-to-background signal for both 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) and (4S)-4-(3-18F-fluoropropyl)-L-glutamate (18F-FSPG). The pattern of 18F-FDG tumor uptake were similar in ovo and in vivo, although tumor-associated radioactivity was higher in the CAM-grown tumors over the 60 minute imaging time course. Additionally, 18F-FSPG provided an early marker of both treatment response to external beam radiotherapy and target inhibition in ovo. Overall, the CAM provided a low-cost alternative to tumor xenograft mouse models which may broaden access to PET and SPECT imaging and have utility across multiple applications.
AB - Mouse models are invaluable tools for radiotracer development and validation. They are, however, expensive, low throughput, and are constrained by animal welfare considerations. Here, we assessed the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as an alternative to mice for preclinical cancer imaging studies. NCI-H460 FLuc cells grown in Matrigel on the CAM formed vascularized tumors of reproducible size without compromising embryo viability. By designing a simple method for vessel cannulation it was possible to perform dynamic PET imaging in ovo, producing high tumor-to-background signal for both 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) and (4S)-4-(3-18F-fluoropropyl)-L-glutamate (18F-FSPG). The pattern of 18F-FDG tumor uptake were similar in ovo and in vivo, although tumor-associated radioactivity was higher in the CAM-grown tumors over the 60 minute imaging time course. Additionally, 18F-FSPG provided an early marker of both treatment response to external beam radiotherapy and target inhibition in ovo. Overall, the CAM provided a low-cost alternative to tumor xenograft mouse models which may broaden access to PET and SPECT imaging and have utility across multiple applications.
U2 - 10.1038/s44303-023-00001-3
DO - 10.1038/s44303-023-00001-3
M3 - Article
SN - 2948-197X
VL - 1
JO - npj Imaging
JF - npj Imaging
IS - 1
M1 - 1
ER -
