MR imaging of blood-borne liver metastases in mice: contrast enhancement with Fe-EHPG.
To determine whether iron(III)ethylenebis-(2-hydrophenylglycine) (Fe-EHPG), a prototype hepatobiliary magnetic resonance imaging agent, can enhance the liver-to-tumor contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) in models of liver tumors in mice, two types of cell inoculation were used: intrahepatic implantation of M5076 sarcoma and intrasplenic injection of colon tumor (C-26) or M5076 sarcoma. Significant enhancement of the liver-to-tumor C/N and/or improved visualization of small lesions was consistently observed on T1-weighted images obtained after injection of the contrast material. For intrahepatic implants, the C/N on postinjection T1-weighted images was superior to that on T1- and T2-weighted preinjection images. For the C-26 metastatic liver lesions of larger diameter (greater than 5 mm), the C/N on postinjection T1-weighted studies was superior to that on preinjection T1-weighted images but was comparable to that on preinjection T2-weighted images. However, higher C/N after administration of Fe-EHPG improved visualization of medium-sized (3-5 mm) and small (1-3-mm) metastatic lesions in both M5076 and C-26 models. These results demonstrate that MR imaging with appropriate hepatobiliary agents appears promising for early detection of liver metastases.
Shtern
F
F
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Garrido
L
L
Compton
C
C
Swiniarski
J K
JK
Lauffer
R B
RB
Brady
T J
TJ
D000818:Animals; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D003287:Contrast Media; D005029:Ethylenediamines; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation
D003287:Contrast Media; D005029:Ethylenediamines; C055242:iron-ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(2-hydroxyphenylacetic acid)