D-18F-fluoromethyl tyrosine imaging of bone metastases in a mouse model.

Unlabelled: The presence and localization of metastatic bone lesions is important for the staging of the disease and subsequent treatment decisions. Detecting tumor cells would have additional value over the current indirect bone scintigraphy method for detecting areas of elevated skeletal metabolic activity. d-(18)F-fluoromethyl tyrosine (d-(18)F-FMT) has recently shown good uptake and fast elimination, resulting in good tumor-to-background ratios.

Characterization of a new renal cell carcinoma bone metastasis mouse model.

Metastatic bone disease caused by renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occurs frequently and becomes more and more prevalent presumably because survival times among patients with disseminated cancers are increasing. Patients with bone metastases from renal cell carcinoma suffer from severe pain, nerve compression syndromes and pathologic fractures. Very little is known about the mechanisms of skeletal metastases of RCC.

Luminescent imaging technology as an opportunity to reduce and refine animal experiments: Light at the end of the tunnel?

In vivo luminescent imaging technology was introduced in experimental life science research several years ago and has rapidly gained wide acceptance. By making use of this technology substantially more information can be gained from animal experiments than was previously possible. The concept of the 3Rs describes the aim to Refine, Reduce and Replace animal models in research.

Analysis of hypertrophic thyrotrophs in pituitaries of athyroid Pax8-/- mice.

Thyroid hormone is important for pituitary development and maintenance. We previously reported that in the Pax8(-/-) mouse model of congenital hypothyroidism, lactotrophs are almost undetectable, whereas the thyrotrophs exhibit hyperplasia and hypertrophy. Because the latter might be caused by an overstimulation of thyrotrophs with TRH, we analyzed TRH-R1(-/-)Pax8(-/-) double-knockout mice, which miss a functional thyroid gland and the TRH transducing receptor-1 at pituitary target sites.

Sagopilone inhibits breast cancer bone metastasis and bone destruction due to simultaneous inhibition of both tumor growth and bone resorption.

Purpose: Bone metastases have a considerable impact on quality of life in patients with breast and other cancers. Tumors produce osteoclast-activating factors, whereas bone resorption promotes the growth of tumor cells, thus leading to a "vicious cycle" of bone metastasis. Sagopilone, a novel, fully synthetic epothilone, inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and here we report its activity in the MDA-MB-231(SA) breast cancer bone metastasis mouse model.