Measuring Non-Invasively Tumor Perfusion and Diffusion as a Function of Tumor Progression Using Proton Magnetic Resonance Imaging (1H MRI)

Asif Rizwan^1,2, Hyung JoonCho¹, Ellen Ackerstaff¹, Jason Koutcher¹

Diffusion-weighted 1H MRI and dynamic contrast-enhanced 1H MRI have been highly developed to provide quantitative measurements of tissue properties that are greatly relevant to evaluating tumor progression and treatment response. Here, we hypothesize that the tumor microenvironment can be evaluated non-invasively by measuring the changes in tumor water diffusion and tumor perfusion. To prove this hypothesis, we mapped the apparent diffusion coefficient of water in the tumor, mapped the tumor according to the received concentration of the contrast agent Gd-DTPA and relate viable and non-viable tumor regions as obtained from ex vivo histology to the in vivo data.