Validation of Multifunctional Mri in Depicting Tumor Microenvironment Using Animal Model

Several functional MRI techniques have been developed which could reflect functional and metabolic rather than morphologic tissue properties. Previous studies have shown that quantification of the MR-derived metrics could successfully monitor the treatment response of anti-tumor therapy. However, the interpretation of the derived metrics remained difficult and the physiological relevance among these metrics has seldom been addressed. The project is proposed to integrate the multifunctional MRI, which includes diffusion MRI, dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI and blood oxygen level dependence (BOLD) MRI, to explore the tumor environment as well as the treatment response to chemotherapy. Animal experiments will be performed using a cultured C6 glioma cells rat model. Diffusion MRI will include the diffusion kurtosis imaging and the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging. DCE MRI will utilize a pharmacokinetic model to extract quantitative parameters such as the vascular plasma volume, transcapillary contrast agent transfer constant (Ktrans), and extracellular extravascular volume. BOLD MRI will use a carbogen challenge task to investigate the functionality of tumor microvasculature. Imaging findings will be correlated with the histology for all the animals. Treatment response will be assessed using a voxel-by-voxel based analysis to reveal the heterogeneity of the intratumoral response. The aim is to build a unique, multifaceted phenotypic view of tumor microenvironment, thus allowing improved understanding of biologic processes and of responses to therapeutic interventions.

Project ID:PC10207-0417
External Project ID:NSC102-2314-B182-060