Evaluation of ghost cell survival in the area of radiofrequency ablation
Researchers have demonstrated dead cells in radiofrequency ablation (RFA) lesions that have morphological similarities to viable tumor cells and are thus referred to as ghost cells. However, studies on how long ghost cells persist have not been systematically performed. A tumor model was established...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 7; no. 12; p. e53158 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Public Library of Science
31.12.2012
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Researchers have demonstrated dead cells in radiofrequency ablation (RFA) lesions that have morphological similarities to viable tumor cells and are thus referred to as ghost cells. However, studies on how long ghost cells persist have not been systematically performed.
A tumor model was established by implanting VX2 tumor tissue into the livers of 48 New Zealand rabbits. Two weeks later, these tumors were eliminated with RFA. The lesions were resected at 0 weeks, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or 12 weeks after treatment, and samples were stained either with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). The presence of the cells and the morphological changes that they underwent were examined by light microscopy.
Four weeks after RFA, there were no obvious morphological changes observed in HE-stained ghost cells, and NADH staining revealed no viable cells. Eight weeks after RFA, the cell structure became indistinct. Twelve weeks after RFA, ghost cells were no longer present.
The morphological characteristics of ghost cells are maintained for at least 4 weeks, during which time HE staining cannot be used to differentiate ghost cells from residual tumor cells. NADH staining for cell viability is necessary to differentiate residual tumor cells from ghost cells. This evidence adds to our understanding of the mechanisms of RFA when used on solid tumors. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Conceived and designed the experiments: KM QW. Performed the experiments: MC QW JH. Analyzed the data: KM SW ZH QW JH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TL PB QW. Wrote the paper: KM TL QW JH. |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0053158 |