Brain Tumor Angiogenesis can be Imaged by 19F MRI: High Sensitivity Detection of Targeted PFOB Emulsion in U87 Human Glioblastoma Mouse Model

Cline Giraudeau¹, Franoise Geffroy¹, Aline Perrin¹, Boucif Djema¹, Benot Thz², Philippe Robert³, Marc Port³, Caroline Robic³, Denis Le Bihan¹, Franck Lethimonnier¹, Julien Valette¹

¹⁹F MRI has the unique property to specifically detect administered ¹⁹F-containing compounds without background signal and thus could be a substitute to PET imaging. Using a PFOB-dedicated, high sensitivity multi spin echo sequence, we show that ¹⁹F MRI is able to reveal brain tumors after injection of an RGD-functionalized PFOB emulsion targeting _v3 integrins. Our results are corroborated by fluorescence microscopy. This work demonstrates that ¹⁹F MRI may be an alternative to existing techniques to detect brain tumor angiogenesis.