Fig. 5

Planar imaging of excised livers with VX2 tumours. The same rabbits shown in Fig. 4A and B above were dissected to enable planar imaging of their livers. As in Fig. 3 above for normal livers, note the prominent vessel features and less extensive volume filling of the liver obtained with ⁶⁷GaTA-MS30 (a), compared to the more extensively dispersed fine network obtained with ⁶⁷GaTA-MS8 (b). Importantly, while the tumour site in (a) was identifiable, having increased activity compared to the rest of the liver, the use of ⁶⁷GaTA-MS8 in (b) revealed a more sharply distinct tumour site of high activity, with only weak activity in the rest of the liver. For comparison, the excised liver from a rabbit instilled with soluble ⁶⁷Ga citrate showed extensive loss of isotope from the organ, and although a tumour was present in this liver, there was no appreciable tumour retention of isotope (c)