J. Bussink et al., MULTIPARAMETER ANALYSIS OF VASCULATURE, PERFUSION AND PROLIFERATION IN HUMAN TUMOR XENOGRAFTS, British Journal of Cancer, 77(1), 1998, pp. 57-64
A method is presented in this report for concurrent analysis of vascul
ar architecture, blood perfusion and proliferation characteristics in
whole-tumour cross-sections of human larynx carcinoma and glioblastoma
xenografts. Tumours were implanted subcutaneously in nude mice. After
i.v. injection with Hoechst 33342 and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) as p
erfusion and proliferation markers, animals were killed. An antiendoth
elial antibody (9F1) was used to delineate vascular structures. Cross-
sections were analysed by a multistep immune staining and a computer-c
ontrolled microscope scanning method. Each tumour section was stained
and scanned four times (Hoechst, 9F1, BrdUrd and Fast Blue for all nuc
lei). When these images were combined, vasculature, perfusion and prol
iferation parameters were analysed. The labelling index (LI) was defin
ed as the ratio of the BrdUrd-labelled area to the total nuclear area.
The LI based on manual counting and the LI calculated by flow cytomet
ry (FCM) were in good agreement with the LI based on surface analysis.
LI decreased at increasing distance from its nearest vessel. In the v
icinity of perfused vessels, the LI was 30-70% higher than near non-pe
rfused vessels. This method shows that both vasculature/perfusion and
proliferation characteristics can be measured in the same whole-tumour
section in a semiautomatic way. This could be applied in clinical pra
ctice to identify combined human tumour characteristics that predict f
or a favourable response to treatment modifications.