Analysis of the intra- and intertumoral heterogeneity of hypoxia in pancreatic cancer patients receiving the nitroimidazole tracer pimonidazole.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hypoxia is thought to be an adverse feature of pancreatic cancer, but direct measurement in patients is technically challenging. To address this, we characterised the intra/interpatient heterogeneity of hypoxia in surgical specimens from patients who received the 2-nitroimidazole tracer pimonidazole pre-operatively.

Methods

Pimondazole was given intravenously 16-20 h before pancreatectomy, and the extent and intratumoral heterogeneity of hypoxia determined by image analysis applied to multiple tissue blocks stained by immunohistochemistry. Intra/interpatient heterogeneity was estimated by variance component analysis.

Results

Pimonidazole staining was analysed in 10 tumours. The extent of labelling varied amongst patients (0-26%), with a broader range of hyp

SUBMITTER: Dhani NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4578083 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature