In Ovo PET Imaging Of A Human Colorectal Carcinoma Model In Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane

Aim. The objective of this study was to use in vivo PET/CT imaging as a validation tool for a novel human colorectal carcinoma model being developed in chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). For this initial pilot study a cell line modeling colon cancer was selected and imaged using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).
<br />Materials and methods. A window was made in the shell of fertilized chicken eggs and 3x106 SW1222 human colorectal carcinoma cells were implanted at day 10 post-fertilization. On day 17 the shell window was enlarged to allow direct injection of FDG (12.2 ± 4.5 MBq/egg) into a CAM blood vessel. During injection the egg was warmed on a heating pad. A mixture of ketamine/medetomidine (50 :1 mg/ml, 0.2 ml/egg) was injected into the albumin in some eggs to assess the effect of anesthesia. After FDG injection the egg was returned to the incubator for a 45 min uptake period before imaging. Imaging was performed on a Siemens Focus 120 microPET with structural CT on a General Electric eXplore CT120. A Minerve cell system allowed reproducible positioning between modalities. PET data was acquired in list mode before histogramming into a single 10 min frame for reconstruction using a 3D maximum a posteriori (MAP) method with all corrections except scatter. A standard 100 µm (theoretical) image resolution protocol (70 kV, 50 mA, 32 ms, 220 views) was used to obtain structural CT data. Image coregistration was performed in PMOD version 3.3. In a separate egg, the influence of added contrast on the CT data was investigated by adding iodinated contrast agent (Iobitridol 35 mgI/ml) to the albumin.
<br />Results. FDG uptake was clear in chick and tumor, with notably high uptake at the major joints. Tumors were identified by localization of FDG uptake on the surface of the CAM. A lack of soft tissue contrast between tumor, CAM and albumin made precise structural identification of the tumor difficult. Anesthesia was crucial to image quality in both PET and CT. CT contrast between the soft tissues of the chick and surrounding albumin/structures was improved by addition of contrast agent.
<br />Conclusion. For the first time we demonstrate successful imaging of FDG uptake in a human colorectal carcinoma chicken CAM model in ovo. Methods to improve structural data are under investigation and will be used in further studies. With such improvement, this model could be of great value to PET oncology imaging.