title: Functional MRI for the prediction of treatment response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: potential and limitations.
abstract: Pre-treatment or early intra-treatment prediction of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) who are likely to have tumours that are resistant to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) would enable treatment regimens to be changed at an early time point, or allow patients at risk of residual disease to be targeted for more intensive post-treatment investigation. Research into the potential advantages of using functional-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences before or during cancer treatments to predict treatment response has been ongoing for several years. In regard to HNSCC, the reported results from functional MRI research are promising but they have yet to be transferred to the clinical domain. This article will review the functional MRI literature in HNSCC to determine the current status of the research and try to identify areas that are close to application in clinical practice. This review will focus on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and briefly include proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS)and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) MRI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong S.A.R. China. king2015@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Ann D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine, Inselspital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse 10, 3010, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Harriet C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Thoeny
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D019468:Disease Management; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
keywords: Cancer; Chemotherapy; DCE; DWI; Head and neck; MRI; MRS; Radiotherapy; Response; Squamous cell carcinoma