PSM
Applied Research
.jpg "Aaqil Khan, BS photo")
Aaqil Khan, BS
Master's Student
University of California, Irvine, United States
Aaqil Khan, BS
Master's Student
University of California, Irvine, United States
Aaqil Khan, BS
Master's Student
University of California, Irvine, United States
.jpg "Shaina Sedighim, MD photo")
Shaina Sedighim, MD
Resident Physician
University of California, Irvine, Department of Surgery
Irvine, California, United States
Nitesh Katta, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Beckman Laser Institute, United States
Junsoo Lee, MS
Graduate Student
Beckman Laser Institute, United States
Arsha Ostowari, MD (he/him/his)
Resident
UCI Medical Center
Laguna Hills, California, United States
Vinodh Radhakrishnan, PhD
Project Scientist
University of California Irvine, United States
Fatemeh Tajik, MD
Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California Irvine School of Medicine, United States
Christoper CW Hughes, PhD
Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
University of California Irvine School of Biological Sciences, United States
Thomas Milner, PhD
Director
Beckman Laser Institute, United States
Maheswari Senthil, MD (she/her/hers)
Chief of Surgical Oncology
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California, United States
Development of in vitro peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) tumor models that closely recapitulate peritoneal tumor microenvironment (TME) require incorporation of peritoneal tumor angioarchitecture. In an attempt to further improve our previously developed 3-D PC vascularized microtumor (pcVMT) model, we sought to study the vasculature of peritoneal metastasis utilizing optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a non-invasive tool that utilizes infrared interferometry to form three-dimensional images from the inherent scattering characteristics of different biological tissue. Here, we report our initial findings of peritoneal tumor vasculature and blood flow by OCT derived angiography (OCTA).
Methods:
Patients with gastrointestinal (GI) PC scheduled to undergo cytoreductive surgery (CRS) were enrolled in the study. At the time of CRS, in situ images of peritoneal tumors, peritumoral area, and unaffected peritoneum were obtained using OCTA prior to surgical resection. OCTA Images were then deconvoluted and processed to minimize motion artifacts and evaluated for vasculature. OCT derived attenuation images and filtered OCTA images were used to highlight regions of blood flow in the field of view.
Results:
Five patients with peritoneal metastases were enrolled in the study: mucinous colon adenocarcinoma (n=1), appendiceal mucinous adenocarcinoma (n=2), appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (n=1), and appendiceal goblet cell adenocarcinoma (n=1). Median age was 57.6 years, four were female. Preliminary results show significant differences in the vasculature within the tumor and peritumoral area (Figure 1). Relative volume fractions of in vivo imaging depict a clear network of intricate vessels converging and surrounding the peritoneal tumor, but a distinct lack of vasculature within the tumor (Figure1) Relative blood flow in the peritumoral area is 6 times higher than the flow within the tumor. (Figure 1d, red area).
Conclusions:
Peritoneal metastases have a distinct angioarchitecture which influences the relative blood flow to the tumor. Incorporation of this information is essential to develop successful invitro tumor models. Furthermore, the study of PC vascular network could help explain some of the biologic differences in response to systemic treatment.