Abstract #0154

Evaluation of Vanadium-Based Contrast Agents for Detection of Early Murine Colon Cancer Using MRI, X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy and a Novel Method of Image Co-Registrations

Devkumar Mustafi¹, Jesse Ward², Urszula Dougherty³, Erica Markiewicz¹, Marc Bissonnette³, Stefan Vogt², Gregory S. Karczmar¹

¹Radiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; ²Advanced Photon Source - Sector 2, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, United States; ³Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Targeted contrast agents that specifically enhance early cancers could significantly improve diagnostic accuracy. Here we compare a new vanadium-based (VC) MRI contrast agent that is sensitive to glycolysis to a conventional Gd-based agent in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. A novel method is developed for co-registrations of in vivo MR images with ex vivo histological images using agar-based phantoms. X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) imaging was used to quantify contrast uptake directly and to determine cellular and sub-cellular distributions in situ. Results revealed that VC-based agents preferentially accumulate in cancer cells, offering an advantage over less selective Gd-based agents.