Hans-Juergen Raatschen1, Barbara Sennino2, Yanjun Fu3, David M. Shames3, Robert C. Brasch3
1Radiology, Charite - Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany; 2Cardiovascular Research Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; 3Radiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
The purpose of our study was to compare and correlate a macromolecular contrast-(MMCM)-enhanced MRI-technique for measuring tumor vascular richness with perfusion-dependent fluorescent microscopy in an angiogenically inhibited human breast cancer model. MRI estimates of fractional plasma volume, fPV, were in good proportional agreement with lectin area density, the microscopic measure of vascular richness (r2=0.74, p<0.001). Thus, fPV can be estimated reliably in cancers by non-invasive MMCM-enhanced dynamic MRI.