Dafna Ben-Bashat1, Haim Ben-Ami1, Moran Artzi1,2, Deborah Blumenthal3, Felix Bokstein3, Orna Aizenstein4, Yifat Edrei5, Ben Corn6, Rinat Abramovitch5
1The Wohl institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; 2Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv, Israel; 3Neuro-Oncology Unit, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; 4Radiology Department, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; 5Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel; 6Institute of Radiotherapy, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Currently, dynamic MR methods using contrast agent are the preferred methods for functional blood-vessel assessment. We have previously presented a novel fMRI method (hemodynamic-response-imaging HRI), using hyperoxia and hypercapnia for the evaluation of the vascular functionality and maturation. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity of HRI in patients with GBM treated with anti-VEGF and cytotoxic chemotherapy. Three patients were scanned several times during the course of their therapy. HRI showed high sensitivity for therapy-response evaluation, demonstrating the process of blood-vessel "normalization" as a result of the antiangiogenic therapy. This novel method might have added value in clinical management.