The CAM cancer xenograft as a model for initial evaluation of MR labelled compounds

Non-invasive assessment of the biodistribution is of great importance during the development of new pharmaceutical compounds. In this contribution, the applicability of in ovo MRI for monitoring the biodistribution of MR contrast agent-labelled compounds was investigated in mamaria carcinomas xentotransplanted on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) exemplarily for Gd-DOTA and cHSA-PEO (2000)16-Gd after systemic injection of the compounds into a chorioallantoic capillary vein. MRI was performed directly prior and 30 min, 3 h, 5 h, 20 h, and 40 h after injection of the compound. The biodistribution of injected compounds could be assessed by MRI in different organs of the chicken embryo as well as in xenotransplanted tumors at all time points. A clearly prolonged enhancement of the tumor substrate could be shown for cHSA-PEO (2000)16-Gd. In conclusion, high-resolution in ovo MR imaging can be used for assessment of the in vivo biodistribution of labelled compounds, thus enabling efficient non-invasive initial testing.