Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Oncode Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
EMBO J. 2022 May 16;41(10):e109675. doi: 10.15252/embj.2021109675. Epub 2022 Apr 11.
Our understanding of the cellular composition and architecture of cancer has primarily advanced using 2D models and thin slice samples. This has granted spatial information on fundamental cancer biology and treatment response. However, tissues contain a variety of interconnected cells with different functional states and shapes, and this complex organization is impossible to capture in a single plane. Furthermore, tumours have been shown to be highly heterogenous, requiring large-scale spatial analysis to reliably profile their cellular and structural composition. Volumetric imaging permits the visualization of intact biological samples, thereby revealing the spatio-phenotypic and dynamic traits of cancer. This review focuses on new insights into cancer biology uniquely brought to light by 3D imaging and concomitant progress in cancer modelling and quantitative analysis. 3D imaging has the potential to generate broad knowledge advance from major mechanisms of tumour progression to new strategies for cancer treatment and patient diagnosis. We discuss the expected future contributions of the newest imaging trends towards these goals and the challenges faced for reaching their full application in cancer research.
我们对癌症的细胞组成和结构的理解主要是通过 2D 模型和薄片样本得到的。这为基本癌症生物学和治疗反应提供了空间信息。然而，组织中包含各种具有不同功能状态和形状的相互连接的细胞，这种复杂的组织在单个平面上是无法捕捉到的。此外，已经表明肿瘤具有高度异质性，需要进行大规模的空间分析才能可靠地描绘其细胞和结构组成。体积成像允许对完整的生物样本进行可视化，从而揭示癌症的时空表型和动态特征。这篇综述重点介绍了 3D 成像带来的对癌症生物学的新见解，以及癌症建模和定量分析方面的相应进展。3D 成像有可能从肿瘤进展的主要机制到癌症治疗和患者诊断的新策略，产生广泛的知识进步。我们讨论了最新成像趋势朝着这些目标的预期未来贡献，以及在癌症研究中充分应用它们所面临的挑战。
