Abstract #2774

Multi-Parametric Characterization of an Experimental Model of Cancer Cachexia

Marie-France Penet¹, Sridhar Nimmagadda¹, Mayur Gadiya¹, Balaji Krishnamachary¹, Martin G. Pomper¹, Zaver M. Bhujwalla¹

¹JHU ICMIC Program, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Cachexia is a life-threatening syndrome of progressive weight loss that occurs with a high frequency in several cancers. A better in vivo characterization of cachectic tumors is important to identify new targets and improve treatment to arrest or reverse this condition. Here we have characterized differences in vascular properties, quantified by 1H magnetic resonance imaging of the intravascular agent albumin-GdDTPA, between cachectic and non-cachectic tumors. We also performed 18F-deoxyglucose PET imaging to study the glycolytic activity of those tumors. We found significantly less permeable vasculature and increased glycolytic activity in the cachectic tumors compared to the non-cachectic ones.