Inna Linnik1, Jose Ulloa2, Marietta Scott2, Carsten Liess2, Jane Halliday2, Josephine H. Naish1, John C. Waterton2,3, Geoffrey J.M. J.M. Parker1
1Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, Manchester University, Manchester, UK; 2Imaging, Translational Sciences, AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK; 3Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, Manchester University, Manchester , UK
Oxygen-enhanced (OE) MRI has potential as a biomarker of oxygen tension, hypoxia, or radiation resistance in human tumours but the mechanisms of contrast have not yet been fully elucidated. T1-weighted MRI was performed in mouse xenografts (N=5) inhaling air, then oxygen, then air. All mice had large domains that exhibited immediate increase in signal following the switch to oxygen, consistent with the expected T1 decrease previously reported. However, there were also large domains where signal tended to decrease following the switch to oxygen.