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Updated: Jul 12, 2026
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Advanced Animal Model of Colorectal Metastasis in Liver: Imaging Techniques and Properties of Metastatic Clones
Published on: November 30, 2016
Deciphering Colorectal Liver Metastasis Perfusion Heterogeneity: Identification of Distinct Vascular Phenotypes
Kuanhong Wang1, Chenyi Xie2,3, Manqi Wu4,5
1Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of South China University of Technology (Guangzhou First People's Hospital), No. 1 Panfu Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou 510180, China.
Radiology. Imaging Cancer
|July 10, 2026
Summary
Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) can distinguish between angiogenesis-type and vessel co-option-type colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) based on distinct vascular patterns. Vessel co-option-type CRLM shows resistance to bevacizumab treatment.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Oncology
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) exhibit distinct microvascular growth patterns, including angiogenesis and vessel co-option.
- Understanding these patterns is crucial for predicting treatment response, particularly to anti-angiogenic therapies like bevacizumab.
- Current methods for characterizing CRLM microvasculature are limited in their ability to differentiate these growth patterns dynamically.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) method for classifying CRLM microvascular networks as angiogenesis-type or vessel co-option-type.
- To assess these microvascular patterns at different metastatic stages.
- To evaluate the differential response of these CRLM types to bevacizumab treatment.
Main Methods:
- Development of a photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) technique for high-resolution visualization of CRLM vascular architecture in a mouse model.
- Establishment of CRLM models using HCT116-luc or HT29-luc cells in BALB/c nude mice.
- Validation of PAM findings through histopathologic analysis.
- Quantitative assessment of vascular parameters (density, junction density, diameter, lacunarity) and statistical comparison between groups.
Main Results:
- PAM successfully differentiated angiogenesis-type from vessel co-option-type CRLMs based on distinct vascular architectures.
- Angiogenesis-type CRLMs showed significantly lower vessel density and junction density, and higher vessel diameter and lacunarity compared to vessel co-option-type CRLMs.
- Angiogenesis-type CRLMs exhibited a significant reduction in vessel density after bevacizumab treatment, while vessel co-option-type CRLMs showed no significant response.
Conclusions:
- Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) provides quantitative microvascular signatures that effectively differentiate CRLM blood supply patterns.
- Vessel co-option-type CRLM is identified as a distinct pattern resistant to bevacizumab therapy.
- This PAM-based classification holds potential for guiding personalized treatment strategies in colorectal cancer liver metastases.
