Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of human cervical carcinoma xenografts: Pharmacokinetic analysis and correlation to tumor histomorphology
Received 24 December 2009; received in revised form 10 June 2010; accepted 22 June 2010. published online 26 July 2010. Corrected Proof
Abstract
Background and purpose
Biomarkers that can predict the outcome of treatment accurately are needed for treatment individualization in advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix. The potential of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) was investigated in the present preclinical study.
Materials and methods
CK-160 and TS-415 human cervical carcinoma xenografts were subjected to DCE-MRI at 1.5T using a spatial resolution of 0.23×0.47×2.0mm3. Parametric images of Ktrans (the volume transfer constant of Gd-DTPA) and ve (the extravascular extracellular volume fraction) were produced by pharmacokinetic analysis of the DCE-MRI data and compared with the histomorphology of the imaged tissue.
Results
Analysis of small homogeneous tumor regions showed that Ktrans, but not ve, differed significantly between parenchymal tissue, connective tissue, and necrotic tissue, consistent with the vascularity of these compartments. However, strong correlations between Ktrans and the fractional volume of the compartments could not be detected for larger tumor regions, primarily because the majority of the voxels represented a chaotic mixture of parenchymal, connective, and necrotic tissue.
Conclusion
The potential of DCE-MRI in providing detailed information on the histomorphology of cervical carcinoma is limited, mainly because the tumor tissue shows significant morphological heterogeneity at the subvoxel level.
Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Corresponding author. Address: Group of Radiation Biology and Tumor Physiology, Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, Norway.
ABSTRACT
T using a spatial resolution of 0.23