Cancer in the spotlight: Using intravital imaging in cancer research

Intravital imaging can provide unique insights into cancer biology and has been particularly useful for research into therapy responses, metastasis, and immune responses. Here, we discuss the protocols that we routinely use for intravital imaging of mammary tumors to follow drug responses and for imaging of lungs to study metastatic seeding. These methods include: (1) the skin-flap technique used to image mammary tumors in a single, long experiment; (2) the use of an implantable imaging window for long-term serial imaging of mammary glands; and (3) the use of a thoracic window for intravital imaging of lungs to study the processes involved in the metastatic spread to lungs. We discuss common technical issues encountered when using each of these methods and provide our solutions for overcoming them. Finally, we discuss some of the exciting, new techniques on the horizon for intravital imaging in cancer biology.