Multimodal imaging and treatment of bone metastasis.

The role of molecular imaging in pre-clinical research is continuously evolving. Particularly in small animal models in biomedical research, optical imaging technologies are frequently used to visualize normal as well as aberrant cellular processes at a molecular-genetic or cellular level of function. Also in cancer metastasis research, whole body bioluminescent and fluorescent imaging techniques have become indispensable tools that allow non-invasive and real-time imaging of gene expression, tumor progression and metastasis, and response to therapeutic intervention. In this paper, we discuss the use of optical imaging strategies--either alone or in combination with CT--to study intrabone tumor growth, tumor progression and to monitor efficacy of therapeutic agents in metastatic bone disease.