Optical imaging of tumor growth in an orthotopic Hec1Bluc+ xenograft model. In vivo BLI and EpCAM-AF680 NIRF imaging of primary tumor growth in mice orthotopically implanted with Hec1Bluc+ cells. NIRF imaging enabled detection of metastatic lesions in the lung (arrows), which were not evident on BLI in vivo (A). Macroscopic images of organs harvested during necropsy (B, upper panel) and corresponding ex vivo BLI and EpCAM-AF680 NIRF images (B, middle panels). Tumor cells are demonstrated in H&E stained sections (20x magnification) (B, lower panel). Positive EpCAM expression in uterine tumor and metastases is demonstrated by IHC (C). Correlation plot of in vivo NIRF and bioluminescent signal in all mice included in the cell line-based models (D). Abbreviations: Bioluminescent imaging (BLI), Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Immunohistochemistry (IHC), and Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF).