ISSN 1004-4140
    CN 11-3017/P

    光子计数探测器CT对小鼠三阴性乳腺癌血管生成的评估

    Evaluation of Angiogenesis in Mouse Triple-Negative Breast Cancer using Photon-Counting Detector Computed Tomography

    • 摘要: 目的:探讨小动物光子计数探测器CT(PCD-CT)活性肿瘤区及全瘤标准化碘浓度(nIC)在小鼠三阴性乳腺癌(TNBC)不同生长时间点的组水平变化趋势及其与微血管密度(MVD)、血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)的关系,评估nIC无创反映肿瘤血管生成的可行性。方法:构建50只4T1小鼠TNBC模型,随机分为5组,分别于接种后第7、14、21、28和35 d行PCD-CT扫描及终末病理取材,形成多时间点横断面设计。以腹主动脉为参照计算nIC,采用活性肿瘤ROI作为主要分析,以包含坏死及液化区域的全瘤ROI做敏感性分析。免疫组化检测MVD和VEGF表达。各时间点nIC与MVD采用Spearman秩相关,全部样本整体相关采用Pearson相关,并以时间点为分类固定效应建立线性模型;nIC与VEGF采用整体Spearman秩相关。结果:不同时间点组的肿瘤体积均值依次增大,基于相邻时间点组均值估算的组水平表观增长率在21 d以后降低;活性区nIC、全瘤nIC、MVD及VEGF均呈先升后降的组水平变化趋势,21 d组最高。活性区nIC与MVD在第7 d呈正相关趋势但无统计学意义(rs=0.573,P=0.088),第14~35 d呈中至强正相关(rs=0.669~0.799,P<0.05),整体Pearson相关系数为0.844(P<0.001)。控制时间点后,MVD仍与活性区nIC(B=0.000729,95%CI:0.000474~0.000985P<0.001)及全瘤nIC(B=0.000666,95%CI:0.000434~0.000898P<0.001)呈正向关联。整体Spearman分析显示活性区及全瘤区nIC均与VEGF呈正相关(分别为rs=0.467,P<0.001和rs=0.536,P<0.001)。28 d和35 d组肿瘤中心坏死较早期时间点组更为明显。结论:小鼠TNBC活性区及全瘤区nIC在不同生长时间点呈先升后降的组水平变化趋势,并与MVD呈正相关;在全部样本整体分析中,nIC与VEGF表达亦呈正相关。上述结果提示,小动物PCD-CT测得的nIC具有无创评估TNBC血管生成状态的潜在价值。

       

      Abstract: Objective: To investigate group-level changes in normalized iodine concentration (nIC) measured in active-tumor and whole-tumor regions using small-animal photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) at different growth time points of mouse triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and to evaluate the association of nIC with microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Methods: Fifty 4T1 mouse TNBC models were randomly assigned to five independent groups and underwent PCD-CT scanning and terminal pathological sampling on days 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 after inoculation, constituting a multi-time-point cross-sectional design. nIC was normalized to abdominal aortic iodine concentration. Active-tumor region of interest (ROI) was used for the primary analysis, and whole-tumor ROI, including necrotic and liquefied regions, was added as a sensitivity analysis. Spearman correlation was used for time-point-specific analyses between nIC and MVD, Pearson correlation was used for the pooled analysis, and a linear model with time point as a categorical fixed effect was used for adjustment. Spearman correlation was used to assess the associations between nIC and VEGF in the pooled sample. Results: Mean tumor volume increased across successive time-point groups, whereas the apparent group-level growth rate estimated from the mean values of adjacent time-point groups decreased after day 21. Active-tumor nIC, whole-tumor nIC, MVD, and VEGF exhibited similar group-level rise-then-fall patterns across the time-point groups, with the highest values observed in the day-21 group. Active-tumor nIC exhibited a positive but nonsignificant correlation with MVD on day 7 (rs=0.573, P=0.088) and moderate-to-strong correlations on days 14–35 (rs=0.669–0.799, P<0.05); the pooled Pearson correlation was r=0.844 (P<0.001). After adjustment for time point, MVD remained positively associated with active-tumor nIC (B=0.000729, 95%CI=0.0004740.000985, P<0.001) and whole-tumor nIC (B=0.000666, 95%CI=0.0004340.000898, P<0.001). Unadjusted Spearman analyses exhibited positive correlations between VEGF expression and nIC values of both the active-tumor and whole-tumor regions.(rs=0.467, P < 0.001 and rs=0.536, P < 0.001, respectively). Central tumor necrosis was more pronounced in the day-28 and day-35 groups than in the earlier time-point groups. Conclusion: The nIC values of active-tumor and whole-tumor regionsexhibited a rise-then-fall pattern across the independent time-point groups and remained positively associated with MVD after adjustment for time point and with VEGF in the pooled analyses. These findings support the potential of small-animal PCD-CT nIC for noninvasive assessment of TNBC angiogenesis.

       

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