1Division
of Radiotherapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton,
Surrey, United Kingdom; 2INSERM U773, CRB3,, Centre de Recherche
Biomdicale Bichat-Beaujon, Paris, France
Increased tissue rigidity is associated with a more invasive tumour phenotype. Non-invasive imaging biomarkers of mechanical properties of tumours can improve the diagnosis and staging of malignancies, and facilitate and accelerate the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Innovative techniques such as magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) afford non-invasive biomarkers of the mechanical or visco-elastic properties of tissue in vivo. The visco-elastic properties of U87, RG2 and MDA-MB-231 tumours propagated intracranially in mouse brain were quantified using MRE, and interestingly revealed that all three tumours were softer than residual brain.