fig2
Figure 2. An example of a metastatic prostate cancer model with the tumors labeled with: firefly luciferase (A); and NIS expression (B). The BLI image (A) takes less than 1 min to acquire, and, as only the tumor cells emit light, it clearly shows widespread dissemination of metastases throughout the body, most clearly in the abdomen and leg. The optical signal is absorbed and scattered by overlying tissue, thus it is not possible to resolve individual lesions by this imaging method. A NIS-SPECT image of the same mouse (B) shows the same tumor burden, but now in 3D. Metastases are clearly present and prevalent in the liver and bone (spine, skull, and femur) of this mouse. Some normal organs in the body also express NIS and so also show up on the scan. SG: Salivary gland/thyroid; ST: stomach; BL: bladder (excretion route of 99mTcO4 probe). (C) Images of a femur from a different mouse with a prostate tumor metastasis. The top panel is a CT image only and shows clear evidence of bone degradation. When the NIS-SPECT image is co-registered, it is clear that an osteolytic lesion is growing in this part of the bone.
