Colo-205 as a translational imaging model for colorectal cancer

Of these new CRC cases, about 10 percent of patients are characterized by a mutation in the B-Raf protooncogene serine/threonine kinase (BRAF) gene resulting in a valine-to-glutamate change at the residue 600 (V600E).1 BRAF is a known important player within the Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and known to have profound effects on cell growth, proliferation, and cell differentiation.2 Clinically, BRAF inhibitors have been shown to have remarkable ability to inhibit tumor metabolism as measured by 18F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸FDG-PET)^.3

Table 1: Colorectal Cancer Models

At Covance we have a number of CRC models (see Table 1) and Colo-205 represents one of our most highly utilized lines with the BRAF mutation. We have also applied preclinical¹⁸FDG-PET to test translational applications. Figure 1 illustrates efficacy of a BRAF inhibitor against subcutaneous Colo-205 in nude mice. Colo-205 has also shown to be¹⁸FDG-PET avid and tumor metabolism modulation can be observed with BRAF treatment (Figures 2 and 3).