Abstract #0466

Tracy K, Yin J, Munasinghe J, Shaprio E, Koretsky A, Kelly K

Brain metastasis occurs in 20-40% of cancer patients; however, the contributing factors are poorly understood. Over-expression of VEGF may contribute to metastatic growth by increasing angiogenesis. This study determines if VEGF inhibition affects the growth of established metastases utilizing various parameters of tumor progression as visualized by MRI. A xenograft model of brain metastasis was initiated from hematogenously delivered single cells labeled with iron-oxide particles. Using 3-D gradient echo MRI, we tracked the growth of the labeled tumor cells in mice being treated with a VEGF receptor antagonist and found that treatment did result in fewer and smaller brain metastases.