A Mouse Tumor Model for Screening Radiotracer Uptake into Primary Neoplasms and Metastatic Disease

Tumor progression and the subsequent formation of metastases present theoretical and praticai barriers to successful diagnosis and treatment of neoplastic disease. Metastatic disease still accounts for the majority of cancer related deaths, particularly because of difficulty in early detection and delineation of metastases (4,21). Early detection, a major objective of oncological nuclear medicine, will be achieved only through an understanding of the mechanisms of tumor progression and the response of normal tissues to invasion by neoplastic tissue. The use of radiotracers in diagnostic oncology, and the use of experimental tumor models for radiotracer design have been the subject of previous reviews (6–8,11,15,20).