Issues

Brain metastases of breast cancer are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In their study, Lockman and colleagues quantified permeability, and paclitaxel and doxorubicin uptake in over 2000 experimental brain metastatic lesions from two model systems. The representative image shown on the cover is a multimodal image illustrating a single metastatic brain lesion which has 10 fold greater permeability compared to that of normal brain. Despite the increased permeability, drug accumulation only reached cytotoxic levels (>1000 ng/g) in a small subset of metastatic lesions, indicating that new brain-permeable drugs will be required. The picture was obtained by multichannel imaging of the eGFP MDA-MB-231Br lesion (green), indocyanine green within the vasculature (yellow), and 14C-AIB phosphorescence (red). For further details, please see Lockman and coworkers on page 5664 in this issue.