Extracellular pH (pHe) in the tumor microenvironment is a biomarker that is used to assess tumor acidosis, which is caused by upregulated aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells. A PET/MRI contrast agent has developed consisting of a pH-responsive MRI co-agent, and a PET co-agent with matching pharmacokinetics to report on the concentration of the MRI co-agent. Using our simultaneous PET/MRI methodology, the pHe of a MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic tumor mouse model was found to be 6.76. These in vivo pH measurements can be used to detect a response to therapy or identify tumor vs. non-tumor tissue.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.