ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the major applications of fluorescence whole-body imaging in living mice with a focus on cancer studies. Fluorescence whole-body imaging of small animals is a powerful in vivo technology with many biomedical applications, among which cancer research occupies a central position. The use of time-resolved techniques allows registration of both the fluorescence intensity and the fluorescence lifetime. Potential agents for chemotherapy, one of the major treatment approaches for most cancers, can also be characterized in vivo using fluorescence assessments. because most therapeutic molecules are nonfluorescent, labeling with a fluorophore is required to visualize their localization within the whole mouse body. The relationships between photosensitizer photobleaching and the photodynamic therapy responses have been investigated in vivo for many photosensitizers. Continuous visual monitoring of tumor growth and spread within intact animals became possible by the use of fluorescent proteins of the green fluorescent protein family.
