Design and Setup of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Experiments for Longitudinal Preclinical Studies of Tumor Response to Anti-Angiogenic Therapy

Jan Sedlacik¹, Regan Williams¹, Melissa Johnson¹, Chris Calabrese¹, Andrew M. Davidoff¹, Claudia M. Hillenbrand¹

DCE measurements are able to detect, quantify and monitor tumor response on anti-angiogenic agents by assessing changes in the contrast agents permeability of the tumor vascular system. Especially DCE experiments in mice can help to better verify effects of anti-angiogenic drugs on tumors. Unfortunately, the design and setup of DCE experiments in small animals are reported only fragmentally. However, a reasonable setup is crucial to conduct reliable DCE experiments. The purpose of this work was to report in detail the design and setup of DCE experiments of our institution to monitor treatment of anti-angiogenic drugs in tumor bearing mice.