The Keystone Program in Personalized Risk and Prevention

The Progress

Tracking Cancerous Tumors with New Technologies

Click image to begin slide show

Figure 1. Dr. Harvey Hensley, pointing to an image of a mouse's colon showing a small tumor. Click image to enlarge.

The Keystone Program in Personalized Risk and Prevention offers new technologies for the detection of colonic polyps in mice developed by Dr. Harvey Hensley, manager of the Small Animal Imaging Facility and a Research Assistant Professor at Fox Chase. Among other technologies, the facility provides Fox Chase investigators with the use of a mouse colonoscopy system. Coupling this system with a highly sensitive scientific CCD camera (Andor DU-885) will permit users to detect fluorescent probes or bioluminescence in the mouse colon. In addition, this system, along with novel molecular imaging tools will allow researchers to watch tumors as they grow and assess treatments designed to prevent colorectal tumors. Funds for this new technology are provided by the Keystone Program in Personalized Risk and Prevention.

The slide show to the right shows a mouse colonoscopy in progress. The miniature endoscope (figure 2 in slide show) is inserted into the mouse colon, so that high resolution images of colon polyps in the colon can be captured (figure 1). The mouse is anesthetized during the procedure and suffers no discomfort. Investigators at Fox Chase, including Dr. Margie Clapper, can determine if the tumor has grown or shrunk over the course of time (figure 1).

Another technology available in the Small Animal Imaging Facility is the newly acquired FMT2500 from VisEn Medical. With this instrument, researchers can obtain three dimensional images of tumors in live mice (figure 3 in slide show). The Small Animal Imaging Facility is managed by Dr. Harvey Hensley. Read More.

The Keystone Program in Personalized Risk and Prevention creates new opportunities for researchers to comprehensively develop early biomarkers of risk, novel screening technologies and preventive interventions. Read More.