A Novel Technique For Detection Of Tumor Lymphangiogenesis

Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Also Included In: Lymphology/Lymphedema
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Lymphangiogenesis, the formation of new lymphatic vessels, has become a new research frontier. There is a crucial need for noninvasive methods to evaluate lymphangiogenesis in situ. However, to the best of our knowledge, lymphosonography about the tumour lymphangiogenesis with percutaneous hepatic injection of ultrasound contrast material was not reported before.

A research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this problem. The research team led by Prof. Liu from the department of ultrasound, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University used PTL and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging with small volumes of SonVue microbubble to study the tumour angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. As various researches indicated contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging enable noninvasive measurements of microvascular perfusion in heart, brain, kidney, skeletal muscle, skin grafts, and solid tumors and provide noninvasive, functionally relevant images of angiogenesis in animals and humans. At the same time, lymphosonography after interstitial injection of microbubble-based contrast agents indicated the ability of trace the lymphatic channels from the injection site up to the draining sentinel lymph node(s). The article further evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of PTL with small volumes of SonoVue(R) as a novel method for the detection of tumour lymphangiogenesis of rabbits hepatic VX2 and to evaluate the combination of PTL and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging for the improvement of the diagnostic ability of liver cancer.

When SonoVue(R) microbubbles delivered into the liver by the traditional percutaneous hepatic injection method and guide under ultrasound imaging. Hepatic lymph vessels were opacified with SonoVue(R) immediately after injection of contrast medium, whereas, liver parenchyma was not enhanced by SonoVue(R). At the same time the boundaries of VX2 tumors was hyperechoic relative to liver parenchyma and the tumors. The hyperechoic boundaries clearly delineate the peritumoral lympathatic vessels of the VX2 tumors. Comparing with the hyperechoic boundaries of VX2 tumors, the videodensity in the tumor parenchyma was no signal enhancement after injection compared with the baseline. The morphological features of the lymphatic vessels during PTL may be important predictive markers for evaluating lymphatic metastasis and prognosis of tumors. In this study, the typical enhancement pattern of VX2 tumors of routinely contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging was hyperechoic relative to liver parenchyma during the early phase and hypoechoic during the later phase, which is helpful for assessment of tumor vascularity, revealed the microvascular perfusion and function.

PTL with small volumes of SonVue microbubble can be a novel method for for the detection of tumour lymphangiogenesis of rabbits hepatic VX2, the combination of PTL and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging can improve the diagnostic ability of liver cancer. Additional research is needed to determine the potential advantages of PTL and to determine if PTL can be used in clinical applications.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Reference: Liu C, Liang P, Wang Y, Zhou P, Li X, Han ZY, Liu SP. Assessment of hepatic VX2 (tumors with the combination of percutaneous transhepatic lymphosonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging. World J Gastroenterol 2008;14(24): 3908-3913 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/3908.asp

Correspondence to: Shao-Ping Liu, the department of ultrasound, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Lai-Fu Li
World Journal of Gastroenterology