Bioluminescence imaging for in vivo monitoring of local recurrence mesothelioma model

Our plain-English summary of Bioluminescence imaging for in vivo monitoring of local recurrence mesothelioma model, by Y. Shi, A. Hollenstein, E. Felley-Bosco, et al (Lung Cancer, 2011).

The study

• Authors: Y. Shi, A. Hollenstein, E. Felley-Bosco, C. Fraefel, M. Ackermann, A. Soltermann, W. Weder, R. Stahel, M. Pruschy, I. Opitz
• Journal: Lung Cancer
• Published: 2011;71(3):370-1
• Type of article: Letter
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This letter to the editor described a noninvasive way to monitor a rat model of local recurrence of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) that the authors had established earlier. The rat mesothelioma cell line IL45, which came from experimental asbestos-exposed peritoneal mesothelioma in rats, was stably transfected with a luciferase-expressing vector, and luciferase-positive clones were pooled. Male Fischer 344 rats weighing 250–300 g were kept at the University Hospital Zurich. Two groups of 3 rats each were inoculated with 1 × 10^6 cells: one group received luciferase-expressing IL45 cells and the other received normal IL45 cells. Tumors were imaged with an IVIS 200 system at several time points. Bioluminescence signals were detected three days after tumor cell inoculation in rats given luciferase-expressing cells and increased over time. No signal was seen in rats given non-transfected cells. Six days after inoculation, a tumor nodule was present at the injection site in all cases and was macroscopically completely resected. At final evaluation 13 days after inoculation, the tumor had relapsed locally at the resection site in all animals. The recurrent tumor was sarcomatoid, like the parental tumor. Bioluminescence signals correlated well with caliper-measured tumor volumes (r2 = 0.9665). Tumor development did not differ between luciferase-expressing and non-luciferase-expressing tumors. The authors concluded that the model would be a useful tool for evaluating and optimizing preclinical cancer therapies.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This letter to the editor reported an animal experiment. The authors used IL45, a rat cell line from mesothelioma of the peritoneum (abdominal lining) produced experimentally in rats exposed to asbestos. The letter did not name a fiber type. They engineered the cells to make luciferase, a light-producing enzyme, so tumors could be tracked by camera from outside the body. Two groups of three male Fischer 344 rats received tumor cells: one group got light-producing cells and the other got ordinary cells. Light signals appeared three days after inoculation in the luciferase group and grew over time. None appeared in the other group. On day six the tumor nodule was surgically removed, and by day 13 the tumor had returned at the removal site in all animals. The light signal correlated closely with measured tumor volume (r2 = 0.9665), and tumor development did not differ between the two groups. The authors concluded the model would be a useful tool for testing cancer treatments in animals before use in people.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Animal experiment reported as a letter to the editor, describing a light-based (bioluminescence) imaging method for tracking tumor growth and local recurrence in a rat mesothelioma model
• Who was studied: Male Fischer 344 rats weighing 250 to 300 g, kept at the University Hospital Zurich. There were two groups of three: one injected with luciferase-expressing IL45 tumor cells and one injected with ordinary IL45 cells.
• Exposure: The rats were not exposed to asbestos in this experiment. They were inoculated with IL45 rat mesothelioma cells, a cell line derived from peritoneal mesothelioma produced experimentally in asbestos-exposed rats. The fiber type is not named. One group's cells were engineered to express luciferase.
• Main results:
  • In rats given luciferase-expressing cells, light signals were detected three days after tumor cell inoculation and increased over time.
  • No light signal was detected in rats given ordinary (non-transfected) tumor cells.
  • Six days after inoculation, the chest was opened (thoracotomy). A tumor nodule was present at the injection site in all cases and was removed.
  • At final evaluation 13 days after inoculation, the tumor had come back at the resection site in all animals.
  • The recurrent tumor was sarcomatoid, like the original tumor, as confirmed by microscopic (histopathological) examination.
  • The light signals correlated closely with tumor volumes measured with a caliper (r2 = 0.9665).
  • Tumor development did not differ between luciferase-expressing and non-luciferase-expressing tumors, at the resection or at final autopsy.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the bioluminescent IL-45-luciferase model, which allows tumor development and local recurrence to be followed noninvasively in living animals, will be a useful tool for evaluating and optimizing cancer therapies in preclinical (animal) testing.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Pleural Mesothelioma, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Sarcomatoid.

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• Recurrence of malignant pleural mesothelioma at the resection borders--local or distant recurrence? — S. Bölükbas, M. Eberlein, et al. (2013)
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