An approach of imaging technique using MRI and 18F-fludeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT for longitudinal monitoring of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma model

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cancers with growing incidence around the world. Some researchers have developed preclinical models in which tumors arise in a background that resembles the naturally developing HCC in human. There are genetically modified mouse models to mimic pathophysiological and molecular features of HCC (1) as well as chemical carcinogen-treated mouse models (2). For the detection of tumor lesions, among various imaging modalities, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide for anatomical information and positron emission tomography (PET) supply functional information of disease (3-5). The purpose of the present work is to evaluate non-invasive and reliable monitoring method for HCC models developed by the treatment with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) as a chemical carcinogen or Hepatitis B virus (HBV) X gene expressing transgenic mice (HBx-Tg model) using 18F-FDG PET/CT and 3.0 T MRI