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Updated: May 3, 2026
Non-invasive Optical Imaging of the Lymphatic Vasculature of a Mouse
Published on: March 8, 2013
Non-invasive mapping of deep-tissue lymph nodes in live animals using a multimodal PET/MRI nanoparticle
Daniel L J Thorek1, David Ulmert2, Ndeye-Fatou M Diop3
11] Division of Nuclear Medicine, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 601 N. Caroline Street, JHOC 3223, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA [2] Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), 1275 York Street, Box 248, New York, New York 10065, USA.
Abstract:
The invasion status of tumour-draining lymph nodes (LNs) is a critical indicator of cancer stage and is important for treatment planning. Clinicians currently use planar scintigraphy and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with (99m)Tc-radiocolloid to guide biopsy and resection of LNs. However, emerging multimodality approaches such as positron emission tomography combined with magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) detect sites of disease with higher sensitivity and accuracy. Here we present a multimodal nanoparticle, (89)Zr-ferumoxytol, for the enhanced detection of LNs with PET/MRI. For genuine translational potential, we leverage a clinical iron oxide formulation, altered with minimal modification for radiolabelling. Axillary drainage in naive mice and from healthy and tumour-bearing prostates was investigated. We demonstrate that (89)Zr-ferumoxytol can be used for high-resolution tomographic studies of lymphatic drainage in preclinical disease models. This nanoparticle platform has significant translational potential to improve preoperative planning for nodal resection and tumour staging.
