Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy in Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastasis: Radiological Findings from Dual Energy CT and PET/CT.

Abstract

Gastric cancer remains fourth in cancer incidence worldwide with a five-year survival of only 20%-30%. Peritoneal metastasis is the most frequent type of metastasis that accompanies unresectable gastric cancer and is a definitive determinant of prognosis. Preventing and controlling the development of peritoneal metastasis could play a role in helping to prolong the survival of gastric cancer patients. A non-invasive and efficient imaging technique will help us to identify the invasion and metastasis process of peritoneal metastasis and to monitor the changes in tumor nodules in response to treatments. This will enable us to obtain an accurate description of the development process and molecular mechanisms of gastric cancer. We have recently described experiment using dual energy CT (DECT) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) platforms for the detection and monitoring of gastric tumor metastasis in nude mice models. We have shown that weekly continuous monitoring with DECT and PET/CT can identify dynamic changes in peritoneal metastasis. The sFRP1-overexpression in gastric cancer mice models showed positive radiological performance, a higher FDG uptake and increasing enhancement, and the SUVmax (standardized uptake value) of nodules demonstrated an obvious alteration trend in response to targeted therapy of TGF-β1 inhibitor. In this article, we described the detailed non-invasive imaging procedures to conduct more complex research on gastric cancer peritoneal metastasis using animal models and provided representative imaging results. The use of non-invasive imaging techniques should enable us to better understand the mechanisms of tumorigenesis, monitor tumor growth, and evaluate the effect of therapeutic interventions for gastric cancer.