Magnetic resonance characterization of tumor microvessels in experimental breast tumors using a slow clearance blood pool contrast agent (carboxymethyldextran-A2-Gd-DOTA) with histopathological correlation.
Carboxymethyldextran (CMD)-A2-Gd-DOTA, a slow clearance blood pool contrast agent with a molecular weight of 52.1 kDa, designed to have intravascular residence for more than 1 h, was evaluated for its potential to characterize and differentiate the microvessels of malignant and benign breast tumors. Precontrast single-slice inversion-recovery snapshot FLASH and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI using an axial T1-weighted three-dimensional spoiled gradient recalled sequence was performed in 30 Sprague-Dawley rats with chemically induced breast tumors. Endothelial transfer coefficient and fractional plasma volume of the breast tumors were estimated from MRI data acquired with CMD-A2-Gd-DOTA enhancement injected at a dose of 0.1 mmol Gd/kg body weight using a two-compartment bidirectional model of the tumor tissue. The correlation between MRI microvessel characteristics and histopathological tumor grade was determined using the Scarff-Bloom-Richardson method. Using CMD-A2-Gd-DOTA, no significant correlations were found between the MR-estimated endothelial transfer coefficient or plasma volumes with histological tumor grade. Analysis of CMD-A2-Gd-DOTA-enhanced MR kinetic data failed to demonstrate feasibility for the differentiation of benign from malignant tumors or for image-based tumor grading.
Preda
Anda
A
Department of Radiology, Center for Pharmaceutical and Molecular Imaging, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143-0628, USA.
Novikov
Viktor
V
Möglich
Martina
M
Floyd
Eugenia
E
Turetschek
Karl
K
Shames
David M
DM
Roberts
Timothy P L
TP
Corot
Claire
C
Carter
Wayne O
WO
Brasch
Robert C
RC
D000818:Animals; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D008833:Microcirculation; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C107329:carboxymethyl-dextran-A2-gadolinium-DOTA