Validation of a Three-Dimensional Head and Neck Spheroid Model to Evaluate Cameras for NIR Fluorescence-Guided Cancer Surgery

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 4; p. 1966
• Main Authors: Egloff-Juras, Claire, Yakavets, Ilya, Scherrer, Victoria, Francois, Aurélie, Bezdetnaya, Lina, Lassalle, Henri-Pierre, Dolivet, Gilles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.02.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Cancer; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Fluorescence; Head & neck cancer; Head - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Indocyanine Green - toxicity; Kinetics; Life Sciences; Metastasis; Models, Biological; Neck - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - surgery; Phantoms, Imaging; Photography - instrumentation; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Spheroids; Spheroids, Cellular - cytology; Surgery; Tumors; multicellular tumor spheroids; fluorescence-guided surgery; head and neck cancer; indocyanine green
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22041966

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence-guided surgery is an innovative technique for the real-time visualization of resection margins. The aim of this study was to develop a head and neck multicellular tumor spheroid model and to explore the possibilities offered by it for the evaluation of cameras for NIR fluorescence-guided surgery protocols. FaDu spheroids were incubated with indocyanine green (ICG) and then included in a tissue-like phantom. To assess the capability of Fluobeam® NIR camera to detect ICG in tissues, FaDu spheroids exposed to ICG were embedded in 2, 5 or 8 mm of tissue-like phantom. The fluorescence signal was significantly higher between 2, 5 and 8 mm of depth for spheroids treated with more than 5 µg/mL ICG (p < 0.05). The fluorescence intensity positively correlated with the size of spheroids (p < 0.01), while the correlation with depth in the tissue-like phantom was strongly negative (p < 0.001). This multicellular spheroid model embedded in a tissue-like phantom seems to be a simple and reproducible in vitro tumor model, allowing a comparison of NIR cameras. The ideal configuration seems to be 450 μm FaDu spheroids incubated for 24 hours with 0.05 mg/ml of ICG, ensuring the best stability, toxicity, incorporation and signal intensity.