title: Investigation of a logistic model for T2* dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (dscMRI) perfusion studies.
abstract: There are a number of T1- and T2-based dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging pharmacokinetic modeling approaches to study cancer microvasculature. Alternatively, model-free approaches offer an easy, quantitative assessment of microcirculation. In this work, we investigate a 6-parameter model-free approach applied to a T2*-weighted echo-planar imaging bolus response curve. We tested this new approach on a small cohort of patients with clinically diagnosed primary rectal carcinoma before adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgical excision. Comparison with healthy muscle tissue shows that logistic parameters P1/P2, P4, and P5 offer good discrimination between tumor and healthy tissue. Bolus response logistic parameters P4 and P5 have been implicated in previous T1-based works as being important in the assessment of cancer malignancy. Further comparison of T2* parameters with signal attenuation amplitude (maximum signal drop) and percentage baseline signal loss also corroborates the models' ability to quantify the microenvironment.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics & Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Graeme M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Wardlaw
authors.forename: Raimond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Colm
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boylan
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rebello
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Noseworthy
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D016015:Logistic Models; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C090600:gadobutrol