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Theranostics 2023; 13(15):5223-5246. doi:10.7150/thno.84947 This issue Cite

Review

Visualizing vasculature and its response to therapy in the tumor microenvironment

Qiaoya Lin, Peter L. Choyke, Noriko Sato^✉

Molecular Imaging Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

✉ Corresponding author: Noriko Sato, MD, PhD. Molecular Imaging Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. Phone: 1+240-858-3079; Fax: 1+240-541-4526; Email: satonnih.gov.

Abstract

Tumor vasculature plays a critical role in the progression and metastasis of tumors, antitumor immunity, drug delivery, and resistance to therapies. The morphological and functional changes of tumor vasculature in response to therapy take place in a spatiotemporal-dependent manner, which can be predictive of treatment outcomes. Dynamic monitoring of intratumor vasculature contributes to an improved understanding of the mechanisms of action of specific therapies or reasons for treatment failure, leading to therapy optimization. There is a rich history of methods used to image the vasculature. This review describes recent advances in imaging technologies to visualize the tumor vasculature, with a focus on enhanced intravital imaging techniques and tumor window models. We summarize new insights on spatial-temporal vascular responses to various therapies, including changes in vascular perfusion and permeability and immune-vascular crosstalk, obtained from intravital imaging. Finally, we briefly discuss the clinical applications of intravital imaging techniques.

Keywords: intravital imaging, tumor vasculature, optical imaging, animal window models, vascular responses

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